Trying Too Hard
by mandalou42
Summary: Dr. Lillian Coutu is a whiz kid from Earth. She's been working with SG-1 for years at the SGC. Now, she finally has the chance to venture to the lost city of Atlantis. She makes new friends, discovers new things, learns of a frightening new enemy, and maybe even finds love. Join Lily as she tries, maybe a little too hard sometimes, to navigate life on Atlantis.
1. Chapter 1

_******* _**_So here is a Stargate Atlantis Ronon/OC centric fanfiction. I've actually been working on this for a while and thought it would be good for my first posting on this site. I have a few more chapters already but I thought I'd get this out there first and see if anyone noticed. Reviews are very much appreciated and wanted! Rate only if you really like it. Let me know if you want more, if anyone reads this... I might post some other ideas as well to see what catches on. Anyways, thanks! ***_**

**_***Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely close to anything affiliated with the Stargate franchise. This is merely a work of fiction based on the unbelievably awesome movie, and series. There will be SPOILERS throughout the fic so don't read if you haven't seen any of the series. The only thing I lay claim to is my OC and some plot.***_**

**Chapter 1: So it begins...**

* * *

Earth June 1998

"Lillian Coutu" the president of Harvard College called the name of the young genius.

Lily walked solemnly up the stage attempting to ignore the raucous calls coming from the audience. Her family had come to her graduation against her wishes. She couldn't blame them for wanting to be a part of such a momentous occasion but she was embarrassed and irritated by their behavior. She had spent the last four years as a poised and perfect whiz kid being observed by the governments of the world and more closely by all of America.

She graduated as the valedictorian of her class at Harvard at sixteen years old. Lillian held doctoral degrees in linguistics, anthropology, applied genetics, and ancient history. At age three she had been removed from the foster care system and placed in an advanced military education program where she was closely monitored for aptitude in all areas of use. She had shown early signs of being what the world would consider a genius. To her though, it all just came so naturally.

By the age of ten she had used her connections to locate her blood related family. She only had an Aunt from her mother's side left. They reunited and her Aunt officially adopted her when she was eleven. While her Aunt and Uncle begged her to take her time getting her education, Lily quietly ushered their concerns aside as she continued her journey to stardom. The world was watching her grow and learn. She graduated high school at the age of twelve with a standard two year degree as well.

She was accepted into an advanced program at Harvard where she took an endless amount of courses every nine weeks for four years until she had several degrees, much knowledge, and a fair amount of friends all across the world. Her short life had been a whirlwind of learning and performing. She thrived off of the praise of her colleagues and mentors, striving to do better around every turn.

Her family had every right to be proud beyond measure of her accomplishments. Although, their cheering wasn't that of pride but of hope. They hoped that Lily would finally stop to experience her life like they wanted her to. They hoped that she would finally see life for its true beauty, the ability to live and experience life. Lily nor her family could never have imagined the great adventure she would soon begin.

* * *

Earth, September 1998, Cheyenne Mountain

"Dr. Coutu," a young excited man with round spectacles called to Lily as she was being escorted by a marine to the General's office.

"Dr. Jackson!" Lily cried in excitement at the sight of her long-time friend and mentor.

"Hey Lily," he said smiling as she bombarded him with a hug.

"Daniel, what is this place? It's amazing, but they won't tell me anything until I meet with General Hammond," Lily pestered him as Daniel dismissed the marine that had been escorting her.

"This is Stargate Command and you are going to be even more amazed once you figure everything out," Daniel told her smirking as he led her to General Hammonds office.

"General Hammond, sir, this is Dr. Lillian Coutu," Daniel introduced the two as he opened the door to Hammond's office.

"It's a pleasure to meet you young lady. Please take a seat and sign this waiver and then we can start your first debriefing," General Hammond told Lily shaking her hand before he sat back down in his chair.

"Waiver? Debriefing for what? Daniel, what's going on?" Lily asked in confusion.

"You have no idea."

Earth, February 2005, Stargate Command

"Lil!" General Jack O'Neill called out to the oblivious doctor just as she was about to run head first into a wall.

"Oh!" she gasped startled by the sudden realization of her location. "Jack!"

"Is it really worth it to read while you're walking if you end up breaking your nose? Again." he scolded.

"Probably not, but luckily I have you to save me. Most of the time," she joked as she embraced the man who she had come to look up to as a father figure, not unlike many of the younger personnel on the base.

"Well, if you could keep that little genius nose from breaking for just a minute, there's something I need to talk to you about," Jack told her as he ushered her down the hallway towards the conference room.

Lillian had made a rather comfortable home at the SGC. She had been living on the base since she turned eighteen. A year after she moved onto the base, her Aunt and Uncle had been killed in, what she was told was, a tragic car accident. Later she would discover that their deaths were caused by a rogue group affiliated with the US government who were attempting to brainwash her, and several other SGC personnel, in the hopes of turning them against the SGC.

Aside from a few hiccups, and many life threatening and harrowing events, Lily's life had become quite comfortable at the SGC. She had become well versed in alien technology and alien culture over the years. Out of necessity she had learned to fight. She didn't like violence, and certainly didn't condone it. After a few rough off-world missions the SGC had implemented a new policy stating that all personnel must be trained accordingly. Teal'c had taught her some rather impressive fighting techniques while the marines she befriended taught her to box.

Recently Lily had been deeply immersed in all things Ancient. Daniel and Jack had brought her plenty of information to delve through since their discovery of their impressive predecessors. She had become one of the foremost experts on Ancients, along with Dr. Jackson and then Dr. Elizabeth Weir. She had worked with Daniel for what seemed like an endless amount of nights and days until they had figured out just what the lost city of Atlantis was and where to find it. She and Daniel had not been allowed to go through the gate with the team that would be sent to inhabit the ancient city but she often dreamed of visiting.

The Atlantis Expedition had been rescued by the crew of the Prometheus in their final hours of their first epic battle with the life sucking creatures of the Pegasus galaxy, the Wraith. Daniel and Lily had been more than relieved to hear that their friends who had gone to Atlantis were safe, if not a little battered and bruised. They had sent all of their new information on the ancients to Dr. Weir and had been elated when she sent them an enormous amount of untranslated information from Atlantis's vast and confusing archives.

She and Daniel had been fervently translating and decoding the ancient information ever since it had arrived back at the SGC. Both were chomping at their bits to get to the magnificent city and experience it for themselves. Little did they know that one of them would soon have the chance.

"Dr. Weir," Lily said in astonishment when she rounded the corner to find Elizabeth Weir sitting in a chair in the conference room.

"Dr. Coutu, Lillian, it's so good to see you again," Elizabeth said as she rose from her chair to embrace the young woman.

"I had no idea you were going to be here! I'm so glad the Wraith didn't blow you up!" Lily told her excitedly as she returned the older woman's embrace.

"Well, Colonel Sheppard and I had to return to Earth to debrief the higher ups and do a little recruitment," Elizabeth told her smiling.

"Recruitment? Anyone I know?" Lily questioned curiously.

"Actually, yes. Hi, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, nice to meet you. I've heard some pretty interesting things about you. And of course you are the infamous whiz kid," John said smirking at her.

"Well, whatever you've heard I swear it's either not true or not my fault," Lily defended.

"All good things Doc," Sheppard told her smiling.

"Dr. Coutu," General Landry said as he sat down at the head of the table. "You're here so that these people can offer you a new job."

"We would very much like for you to join the Atlantis Expedition, Lillian," Weir told her.

"You want me to come to Atlantis? And do what?" Lily asked in astonishment.

"Anything kid. Hell, I'm sure they'd settle for you translating the rest of Atlantis' database," Jack said enthusiastically.

"But, you said, before… that I couldn't, shouldn't…" Lily stuttered looking between Jack and Daniel.

"As much as I hate to admit it, between the two of us you could do more for Atlantis. You do much more than translate things Lily," Daniel said.

"And, as much as I hate to admit it, Atlantis needs you more than Earth. Dr. Weir here came up with a pretty good argument for why you should be allowed to join up. Take up the good fight. Relocate. Out into the wild blue yonder…" Jack rambled on giving Lily a moment to compose herself.

Lily had been yearning for more than a year now to travel to the lost city of Atlantis. The great city made by the Ancients. She had been longing to get her hands on the information and histories of another galaxy, far far away from her own. She wanted more than anything to go to Atlantis, but she never thought she would get the chance. She was brilliant sure, and good at defending herself, but she was also obsessive. When she wanted to learn something or do something she became manic and determined. Her quests had gotten her in quite a bit of trouble in the past.

"Yes, my god, yes," Lily sputtered out when she realized that she still hadn't said anything. "When do we leave?"

"So young and eager to jump out of the nest, never thought I'd see the day," Jack regarded her decision as the others smiled at her while Daniel fidgeted nervously with his hands under the table.

"We leave tomorrow at 0500 on the Prometheus and it's a two week hyperspace trip back," Sheppard told Lily as he and Weir stood to leave.

"I'll be ready. Dr. Weir, thank you," Lily told her sincerely.

"Don't thank me, General O'Neill is the one who approved my request," she told the young woman as she and John left the conference room.

"Well Dr. Coutu, it seems as though you've finally managed to make it to Atlantis. I'll need you to sign some transfer papers and look through a few profiles to choose your replacement," General Landry told the excited and bubbly doctor.

"Of course sir, I'll have it on your desk within the hour," Lily told him standing up quickly to regard him as he began to rise from his chair.

"That's not necessary doctor, just send it to me before you get to Atlantis. I'm sure Dr. Jackson wouldn't mind picking up some of the slack for a bit," General Landry said before he waved a hand in dismissal as he headed back to his office.

"Daniel! I'm going to Atlantis!" Lily said to her friend in a voice of awe as she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the exit. "You have to help me pack!"

"Have fun kids, don't forget dinner tonight, your last chance at a bite of earth grub before you cast off of good old terra firma… Awe for crying out loud how does that girl still move so quickly," Jack shook his head before entering Landry's office.

"Jack, you sure you know what you're doing?" Hank asked his friend.

"Why of course not Hank. I only know that there's really no logical reason to keep her here though, and contrary to popular belief I do not unfairly block my friend's chances at experiencing strange new worlds and adventure and all that crap," Jack told the General before sinking into a chair with a huff.

"She's not just your friend Jack… You, SG-1, and the oldest members of this operation basically raised that kid. She was a famous smarty pants who got scooped up by the military only because she knew, trusted, and liked Dr. Jackson. If I remember correctly, you told me once that she was basically your own kid and I'd be damn crazy if I thought you were gonna let her go anywhere off world or off base again without you. She does have a knack for getting in trouble," Landry reminisced.

"Yeah, well, she's a great kid, adult now I guess. Who knows? Maybe she'll take up SG-1's mantle of always saving the world, and the universe. She learned from the best," Jack said sighing.

"Yes she did Jack," Landry said before shooing the frustrated General out of his office.

* * *

Atlantis, Gate Room, March 2005

"Beaming down Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard, and Dr. Coutu," Novak the flight controller of Prometheus radioed the Atlantis control room.

"Oh geez… Wow," Lily marvelled as she took a look around the gate room. "It's beautiful."

"That it is. Well, Dr. Lillian Coutu, welcome to Atlantis," Weir told her as she began to ascend the steps to the control room.

"Sheppard, this is better than you described," Lily told her new friend as she followed Elizabeth into the control room. "Rodney!"

"Lil, nice to see you, Dr. Weir told me you'd be joining the expedition, good to know we'll finally have someone around here pulling their own weight for once… Ooof," Rodney grunted as Lily's small form rammed into him in what he thought might be her way of hugging someone.

"I'm glad you're still the same," Lily said smiling as she pulled back.

"Well, I'm glad that someone appreciates me for once," Mckay muttered as Ronon and Teyla entered the control room.

"Welcome back Dr. Weir, I trust that your journey to Earth was successful?" Teyla regarded Elizabeth.

"Yes Teyla, it was very successful. The IOA is appeased and we managed to procure several new recruits for Atlantis," Elizabeth said smiling towards Lily as the young woman's eyes darted around the room taking in her surroundings.

"Hello, I am Teyla Emmagan of the Athosians, it is a pleasure to meet you. Dr. Weir has spoken very highly of you," Teyla said to Lily who finally focused her attention towards the newcomers.

"Oh, well, um… Hah. Yeah I'm, uh, Dr. Lillian Coutu. It's very great to meet you Teyla Emmagan," Lily blushed as she introduced herself.

"And this here is Chewie," Sheppard said slapping Ronon on the back.

"Ronon Dex," he said simply before looking away and returning to his stiff over bearing stance.

"Dr. Coutu will be joining Alpha team in your off world missions," Weir told the others.

"What? Why? You don't need her if you have me," Mckay responded in confusion.

"Mckay," Sheppard chided. "It's not that we prefer either one of you, Dr. Weir and I think it would be best to have the best two eggheads on the best team. Besides Rodney, she's not gonna go on every mission with us. Just when it applies."

"Of course, the beginning of the end. Replaced with someone younger and more attractive," Rodney muttered as he stormed off, presumably returning to his lab.

"That is the most cordial that I have ever seen Rodney act towards a new member of this expedition," Teyla remarked as they watched Rodney leave.

"Well, we go way back," Lily said smiling before turning to Weir and Sheppard. "I'd never take his place, just so you know. Mckay is my friend."

"You aren't taking anyone's place, you're simply adding to the expertise. Colonel Sheppard will show you to your new quarters and help you get settled in. Alpha team has a mission scheduled for tomorrow that I'd like for you to accompany them on," Weir told Lily.

"Yes ma'am. I'll report here for briefing at 0600 hours," Lily replied.

"That won't be necessary Lillian. Alpha team isn't leaving until much later. Just find one of Alpha team at breakfast and they'll accompany you to the briefing. And remember, this isn't a military base. You don't have to address me like you would General Landry," Elizabeth told her gently.

"Right… gotta get used to that.

* * *

Atlantis, Science Labs, April 26th, 2005 0400 hours

Lily was sitting on a swivel stool peering through a microscope at a tid bit of an unusual microbe found on an Alien planet by SGA-5, the botanists. She was using her few hours before she was scheduled to go off world in order to follow up on some theories of her own. She was not only interested in her assigned work but also in the goings on about the serene city. She was refocusing the microscope when she heard pounding footsteps coming from down the long hallway that the science labs were located on. She cursed as she completely lost focus on what she was working on and headed out into the hall to find out what was going on.

"Lil," Sheppard acknowledged her as he stood from his fallen position on the floor. "What're you doing up so early?"

"Did you push him?" Lily asked the large Satedan who was standing near his friend with a small smirk on his face.

"He fell," Ronon said.

"Right… You two are always so rough with each other. Eventually Carson is going to stop patching up whatever you break," Lily chided.

"Oh come on, what's a morning workout without a little excitement?" Sheppard said smiling.

"Safe," Lily told him before turning back to the lab.

"Hey, you didn't answer my question. What're you doing down here so early?" John called after her.

"I'm doing some independent research on one of the botany finds SGA-5 brought back," she replied.

"Did you get assigned to help? I thought you were coming with us today," the Colonel questioned in confusion.

"I am coming with you today. It's independent research… meaning that I'm doing it for fun," she said before slipping back into the lab.

As Lily began to rearrange the materials at her workstation she could hear the two men walk into the room. She sighed knowing that she would soon be the butt of more jokes involving her overachieving ways. As it was when she first arrived at the SGC, she was trying too hard to fit in and prove herself. She turned around just in time to see John attempting to open a petri dish with a sample of an infectious disease that had been found on another planet.

"Gah!" Lily shouted leaping up and snatching the sample from John. "Don't touch anything! This is an infectious disease, you could have put the city on lockdown."

"This is why I don't like coming here," Ronon remarked.

"Well, there's a reason that different things in this lab have giant hazard symbols on them," Lily quipped as she stored the offensive dish in the back of a bio-hazard fridge.

"I promise to keep my hands to myself from now on doc," Sheppard told her smirking.

"What do you want?" Lily asked rolling her eyes.

"Well, you've been here for almost two months and all you do when you're not off world is sit in these labs, and eat, and sleep. I assume you do the last two, not that I ever see you," John told her.

"You're point?"

"You need to get out more. You know, I heard from some of the marines that used to be stationed at the SGC that you were a pretty good fighter," Sheppard said.

"Well, I'm not Rocky but I can hold my own," Lil responded.

"Who's Rocky?" Ronon asked.

"He's a legendary warrior from earth," John said.

"Oh."

"What I mean to say is that I use my training for defense, not sparring. I practice my own stuff here and there, I just like privacy. Better for others not to know just exactly what you're capable of," Lily told the men.

"You don't wanna know what others are capable of?" Ronon questioned.

"Oh trust me, I know what the two of you are capable of."

"Well, we promise not to tell anyone your secret ninja skills if you ever wanna train with us. Or Teyla, she spars all the time with us," John said hopefully.

"Maybe… I don't wanna hurt you though. You seem to get enough stitches from tall, dark, and scary," Lily replied.

"I doubt you can inflict the amount of force it takes to give Sheppard stitches," Ronon challenged.

"Come on now buddy, she said she can hold her own," John addressed his friend. "I personally believe that you could damage a man as much as you wanted."

"Oh Sheppard… Alright, I'll spar with you. Time and place?" she asked as she ushered them out of the lab and locked it up.

"How about 0800 hours? That gives us a good six hours before we have to head out, I'm sure I can patch up any injuries before that," John suggested.

"See you there," Lily told him smiling before she began walking away back to her quarters.

"You're gonna get in trouble," Ronon told his friend quietly as they turned around to continue their run.

"Ah, what's my day without a little trouble."

* * *

Atlantis, Gym, 0750 hours

Lily walked into the gym ten minutes before she was supposed to meet John and Ronon. She was happily surprised to see that Teyla was currently occupying the sparring room meditating. It seemed as though she had just completed a pretty rigorous workout. Lily turned to leave but was stopped by the elegant woman's voice.

"You do not need to leave. You may join me in meditation if you wish," Teyla said without opening her eyes.

Lily answered her friend by sitting across from her and assuming the meditation position that she was most comfortable with. She had not practiced her meditation since arriving to Atlantis. She had often meditated after practicing Lok'nel, a type of Jaffa martial arts, with Teal'c back at the SGC. It had taken some time for Teal'c to teach the eager and impatient young girl the ancient Jaffa art.

Lily remained silent as she sat in meditation with Teyla. It was helping her to sort through the rampant bombardment of thoughts streaming through her mind. Since joining the Atlantis expedition she had experienced many new and exciting happenings. She was elated with the work she was doing and the new friends she had been making. There were a few things that had been bothering her though.

She didn't go on as many off world missions as she would have liked to, and was used to. She suspected that this was due to, in part, the fact that she was considered the mascot of the stargate program. That was putting it mildly. Many of the newcomers to the SGC, and some of her friends that had been closer to her age, had told her of how fondly the most important members of the stargate program spoke of her.

Daniel Jackson was her role model; counseling and mentoring her when she was younger, and then opening her up to the possibilities of the universe through the SGC. Jack O'Neill had become her surrogate parent, teaching her the ways of the world and how to be a good person. Samantha Carter was her closest friend and most trusted confidant. When she had first arrived at the SGC there were not very many women present. Sam had always helped her with her most awkward problems while also encouraging her to learn as much as she could.

Teal'c was something completely amazing. He had taken quickly to the young girl and worried constantly for her safety. He cared for her well being more than anyone knew. He had been the one to teach her how to defend herself in the field. He had been the one to see that she had an inner strength that needed only a small amount of nurturing. He was her brother. He protected her even when she didn't believe she needed protecting.

These relationships with the infamous SG-1 seemed to be overshadowing her own achievements and abilities. After a mission gone bad at the SGC several years ago, the then Colonel O'Neill had demanded she not be allowed off world without a member of SG-1. That was the first time she had ever yelled at someone. She had been furious that he was treating her like a child when she was clearly a grown woman who was capable of defending herself. She was hurt that he would not acknowledge her ability to take care of herself and betrayed by his over protective actions.

Luckily, Lily and Jack had quickly made peace with the conflict thanks to the help of their friends. Jack admitted that he had overreacted to the situation, but he was very firm about her not going off world again without what he claimed should be the best of the best to guard his favorite egghead. Lily acquiesced to his request and a year later had become a permanent fixture of SG-1.

She assumed that this was what O'Neill had requested, probably ordered, to happen on Atlantis. She had only ever gone off world with the entirety of SGA alpha. She knew that Jack trusted Sheppard an awful lot and that this was likely the only reason she had been allowed to leave the Milky Way. Still, Dr. Weir had been more than hesitant to send her on what she claimed were unnecessary missions. Lily knew that they were only attempting to keep her out of harm's way as much as possible. While she appreciated the sentiment, she had grown tired of the lack of action and harrowing danger.

"Lily, I have completed my meditation and I will be leaving soon. Are you alright?" Teyla spoke jarring Lily from the trance like state she had slipped into.

"Oh, yes of course. Sorry, I haven't meditated since I left Earth. I guess I just got caught up in it. I needed to pause for a minute and clear my head. Thanks for letting me join you," Lily told her as she stood and watched Teyla pack her things.

"You are most welcome to join me at any time. I frequent the sparring room at this time every day to practice technique and meditate," Teyla replied.

"Well, I somehow got roped into a sparring session with Sheppard. I think Ronon is coming as well, to watch or maybe laugh, not really sure," Lily joked.

"You are going to spar with John?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, he was teasing me about never seeing my fighting techniques and not knowing if I could really hold my own. I figured a couple of stitches would ease his curiosity," Lily told her smirking.

"Surely you would not knowingly inflict that kind of injury on him," Teyla remarked with worry.

"No, no, no, I'm just joking. To be honest with you I think he's been super hesitant to take me off world because he thinks I'll get hurt or something. Back on Earth I became pretty close to some of his bosses. I'm worried they might have warned him to keep me safe. It's pretty annoying actually, always being treated like the fragile little baby… Sorry. Why am I telling you this?" Lily finished embarrassed.

"You can always be honest with me, especially if you are troubled. I agree with your assumption that Colonel Sheppard is most apprehensive about taking you on missions. I have witnessed his hesitation before," Teyla said.

"Oh really? Well, the point of the matter is that I figured maybe if I showed him that I could defend myself then he wouldn't be such a worry wart," Lily told her.

"A worry wart?" Teyla asked in confusion just as the doors opened revealing Sheppard and Ronon.

"What's up ladies?" Sheppard asked setting his gym bag down on a bench off to the side.

"I had finished my morning workout and Lily and I were meditating. We are finished now. I hear that you are going to spar with our new friend. I do hope that you will not be too rough with her," Teyla said sending a sly glance to Lily.

"Course not Teyla. What kind of man do you take me for?" John joked.

"We shall see," Teyla said setting her things down next to his and sitting on the bench.

"I love having spectators," John said smirking.

"So what do you want me to do?" Lily asked as she eyed Ronon who was hovering near the door.

"Well I figured we'd start with your basic self defense moves," Sheppard suggested.

"I don't do that sort of thing. I can't just go through the motions. If you wanna see my moves then we're gonna spar, not prance about each other in hesitation," Lily told him firmly.

"You sure?" Sheppard asked with concern.

"Yep," she said before advancing on the unsuspecting Colonel.

Lily moved quickly and proficiently in a simple attacking motion with her right hand going for a jab at Sheppard's left shoulder. She managed to land the hit slightly lower than she had planned as he spun out of the way. Lily brought her knee up swiftly, knocking into John's stomach and causing him to double over. She stepped back a fraction of an inch before spinning like a ballerina while swinging her left leg out into a finishing blow, knocking the wheezing man to his knees.

"Okay, point taken. Let's try that again," John said as he quickly rose and lurched after Lily who wore a smirk and a glint in her eye from the excitement.

Lily spun out of the way giggling at the sloppy attack. She whipped her left hand out striking her opponent in the neck which caused him to stumble into a wall. He turned to face her with a look of confusion and concentration. He moved to face her and began striking towards her with both hands. She matched him blow for blow, not allowing a single hit to land. As she noticed him tiring she quickly gripped his shoulder causing him to aim for her stomach, to which Lily responded by using her right leg to wrap around his arm and twirl him to the floor.

"Ow, that hurt," John complained as he stayed sprawled across the floor.

"Give up?" Lily asked cheekily.

"My turn," Ronon said stepping forward.

"I think I reopened my stitches from yesterday," John moaned from the floor.

"Perhaps we should take a moment to address the Colonel's obvious medical needs," Teyla suggested crouching down to inspect John's busted lip.

"You take him to the medbay and Ronon and I can continue," Lily said hastily as her eyes stayed glued to her new opponent who was circling her as if she were prey.

"I do not think that is a wise idea," Teyla commented.

Lily and Ronon were now ignoring their friends who remained in the sparring room. Sheppard grew silent as he sensed the tense atmosphere thickening. He looked at Teyla with a worried gaze. Both of them knew that their Satedan team mate was less than gentle when it came to sparring, with anyone. It seemed though, that Lily was just as merciless, but more light hearted. She seemed to be enjoying the chance to blow off some steam.

Ronon struck first, launching himself at the smaller female and tackling her to the ground. Lily laughed as she flipped him over and off of her as they landed, she had not been expecting him to make such a brusque move. Ronon picked himself up and eyed the jovial woman with a suspicious look. Lily beckoned him forward with a slight movement of her hand. The large man seemed off put by her nonchalance and began his attacks.

Once again Lily found herself meeting her opponent blow for blow, no one landing any hits, but this time neither participant seemed to be showing any signs of tiring out. Ronon grew frustrated with the mundane movement and darted his leg out in an attempt to sweep Lily off her feet. The tiny female let out a gasp as she narrowly missed his leg, jumping just in time to avoid falling. Ronon swiftly spun, fanning his dreadlocks out in all directions, before jumping with one leg in the air poised to kick.

Lily sidestepped the incoming attack and gripped the back of his shirt before he landed, swinging him into a wall roughly. It had been instinct, and she immediately regretted her actions. Ronon seemed unfazed though, and he picked himself up before grunting in annoyance and feigning a side jab before landing a hit on Lily's shoulder. Lily took the hit steadily, noticing the incoming blow too late to avoid it. Ronon narrowed his eyes at her nonexistent reaction.

The former runner was agitated with the small doctor's ability to evade his hits, and her seemingly unshakeable resolve. She didn't seem affected at all by anything he was doing. He let go of any restraint he might have been using and began striking out towards her with his hands again, only quicker and harder. Lily matched him blow for blow, never once attempting to land her own hits on him, until he managed to slip past her rapidly moving hands and lock a solid grip onto her wrist.

Lily closed her eyes, unable to keep the flashes of memories from running across the forefront of her mind. Stay focused, she told herself but it was too late. That simple grip had set off the defensive, well trained, fighter that had been dormant in the beginning of the match. Her eyes bolted open, the once odd hazel iris' turning almost completely black. Ronon took notice of the change in her gaze and loosened his grip for a second before steeling himself against her heated glare.

Lily reached her right hand out to grip the wrist attached to the hand that had been holding her own wrist. She pulled her body up using only her forearms and the firm grip Ronon kept locked onto her. She flipped her legs up as well gripping Ronon's neck in between her calves, shocking him into letting her wrist go. Instead of falling unceremoniously to the ground, Lily braced her body weight on her right hand and used her left to jab a pressure point on the back of Ronon's right leg.

Ronon's leg buckled and he fell to the ground with a shout. Lily released her grip on his neck, spinning on her hand before landing her body on top of the fallen man's stomach. She held her forearm to his neck and ripped a knife from one of his hiding spots in his hair, holding it to his stomach. Ronon breathed in and out deeply, staring at the crazed female who had him locked in her icy gaze.

As if she had been shocked, Lily dropped the knife and let out a startled gasp. She stood up quickly and backed into a corner opposite her opponent and their spectators. She sank into a crouch before plopping to the ground and pulling her knees up to her chest. She stared at the ground wishing she could disappear.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," she muttered as she began to take deep breaths at an erratic pace.

"Ronon you okay?" Sheppard asked, receiving a nod from the large man. "See, no harm done, things just got a little heated."

"I opened your fucking stitches, heated… I had a knife on him. You should go let Beckett check you out. I'll clean up," Lily replied not looking up from the floor.

Sheppard nodded to Teyla as he and Ronon walked towards the door, both seemingly unsteady on their feet, leaving the two women alone. Teyla approached Lily's cowering form, sinking to the floor a few feet in front of her and assuming a position of meditation. Lily looked up briefly to see what the other woman was doing.

"I don't want to meditate again Teyla. You should leave," Lily said quietly.

"We do not have to meditate. You could explain to me why you are so upset instead," Teyla said cocking her head to the side as she stared at the young woman.

"I… I shouldn't have lost control like that. I could have hurt one of them really badly," Lily admitted in a sad voice.

"Neither of them were expecting you to be such a prolific fighter. Colonel Sheppard is an excellent marksman and has exceptional stamina when it comes to enduring torture, but he is not well versed in hand to hand combat. He reacted to my first sparring session with him much the same," Teyla explained.

"And Ronon?"

"Ronon is very self aware of his increased strength and fighting skills. He held back until the end when I believe that he became agitated with your carefree attitude. He is sensitive to mockery," Teyla replied.

"I wasn't mocking him, I knew he was holding back. I was laughing because I thought we were just meant to be having fun," Lily related.

"I understand that, but Ronon sees sparring or fighting as a way of survival. He is always serious, even in a simple practice match. You also surprised him with your impressive agility and flexibility. He looked disgruntled by your ability to move yourself in such a way. He will not make the same mistake twice," Teyla warned.

"Yeah, I kind of got a bit serious there myself at the end. Just the way he grabbed my wrist, I guess it startled me or something. You think they're mad?" Lily asked finally meeting Teyla's eyes.

"I think that they will be embarrassed and concerned for your well being, but they will not be angry with you. Colonel Sheppard will most likely relate his loss differently to the other soldiers," Teyla responded smiling.

"Huh, well that's fine. I don't really care what anyone thinks, as long as you guys don't drop me," Lily said chuckling nervously.

"You are the only one who has done any sort of dropping today," Teyla told her wittily.

"Ha, well they were asking for it weren't they? Guess they figured out I'm not such a liability in the field," Lily said cheerfully as she rose to her feet.

"I do not think they will make the mistake of underestimating you again."


	2. Chapter 2

_*****Here is chapter two! Thank you to my first reviewer Princess Anastasia, I'm really glad you like the story.*****_

**_***Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely close to anything affiliated with the Stargate franchise. This is merely a work of fiction based on the unbelievably awesome movie, and series. There will be SPOILERS throughout the fic so don't read if you haven't seen any of the series. The only thing I lay claim to is my OC and some plot.***_**

**Chapter 2: The Lost Boys**

* * *

Atlantis, Gate Room, 1400 hours

"All patched up Sheppard?" Lily asked smiling as the Colonel entered the gate room.

"I think I'll live," he said returning her infectious attitude.

"So what're we heading off to do?" Lily asked as she sifted through her pack for a power bar, already feeling hungry.

"We got a tip about a ZPM from some locals on this planet. We're gonna go check it out. Figured between you and Mckay we can handle whatever we come across. Ancient riddles aren't really my thing," John told her.

"Well lucky for you the smartest people in the universe are yours to order around," Mckay remarked sarcastically.

"Oh yes, lucky me," John replied rolling his eyes.

Dr. Weir cleared the team to embark and the five members of SGA alpha stepped through the gate in search of a ZPM. Mckay was obviously put out at the thought of having to carry out another, likely fruitless, reconnaissance mission. The other four were simply pleased with the thought of something to do. Lily specifically hadn't been off world for a good week and a half, and she was itching to explore more of the Pegasus galaxy.

* * *

Unknown Planet, Cave, Time Unknown

Colonel Sheppard was the first member of his team to open his eyes. He immediately realized that he was strapped to a chair sitting at a long rectangular table. He remembered walking through the brush on the planet they had been beckoned to before being stunned. His team had obviously been kidnapped, again.

"You guys okay?" he asked as he noticed the rest of his team beginning to stir.

"Oh yeah, fine!" Mckay exclaimed looking about frantically.

"Seems like a whole lot of trouble to go through just to get us to dinner," John remarked to the intimidating looking bunch of men standing around them.

"Not gonna talk to us, huh?" Lily asked struggling against her bonds in discomfort.

"We'll release you from your bindings if you promise not to attack us," a man said stepping forward.

"Sure," Ronon said, not looking or sounding convincing at all.

"Yeah, we promise," John told them with a fake smile.

Lily rolled her eyes at the men's unconvincing answers and tried her best to look as nonthreatening as possible. The group and their captors heard a laugh come from what looked to be a side cavern in the cave. A man with a completely blacked out eye appeared from within and the four primary members of alpha team seemed frazzled by his presence. Ronon immediately stood up, with the chair he was tied to, and snarled at the man before he was shoved back down into a sitting position.

"Before we untie them they have to know they're among friends," the man said.

"Ford?" Sheppard asked in astonishment and disbelief.

"Thought I was dead, didn't you, Sheppard?" the man commented harshly.

"Lovely reunion, can we get back to untying our hands?" Lily asked breaking the eerie contemplative silence.

"As long as no one does anything stupid," the first man, obviously of a lesser rank, said.

"Untie their hands. They aren't going anywhere," the man called Ford said.

The team seemed hesitant to follow Sheppard's lead of compliance with the strange men, and their former team member. Aiden Ford had once been on the SGA alpha team. Lily had read reports written by this man, and understood his downfall due to the overdose of wraith enzyme. She desperately wished she hadn't been a part of the mission today as the possibility of what might happen sank in.

"Guys. Guys, please, eat. Eat." Ford said gesturing to the elaborate spread in front of them, even eating a bit off of Teyla's plate to show that it wouldn't harm them by his standards. "Wildmen, this used to be my team. Well not the big one, but I think he's okay too. No clue who the kid is though."

"Not a kid," Lily remarked in an irritated voice.

"What is all this?" John asked as Rodney began shoving food in his mouth.

"Some local vegetables, a sorta alligator thingy. It tastes like salted meat, it's good, try it," Ford said casually.

"I don't think he was talking about the food. What the hell is going on?" Lily said angrily.

"Who are these men and why bring us here like this?" Teyla questioned with concern.

"Whoa, that's a lot of questions," Ford said.

"Pick one," Ronon demand as he too began picking at the food in front of him.

"Pick one. That's good. Where'd you find him Sheppard?" Ford laughed.

"Maybe you should start with how you managed to escape being culled by the wraith dart, hmm?" Mckay muttered as he continued to shove food in his mouth nervously. "What? I get nervous, I get hungry…"

The crazed former expedition member launched into an elaborate explanation on how he had escaped the Wraith hive ship he had been taken to. He also explained how he met the men standing in the room, and what they had become. All of the men were on the enzyme, and they fancied themselves as a band of vigilantes. They even stored live Wraith on the premises, to harvest them for enzyme, much to the horror of the newcomers. Ford insisted that they were safe from any communication the Wraith may attempt with the others of their kind.

"So, why'd you jump us?" Sheppard asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry about that. It was the only way to get you here," Ford insisted.

"Why didn't you just tell us where you were? You know we would have come," John told him.

"Yeah, you and a Special Ops team," Ford scoffed.

"No, no," John said unconvincingly.

"I know you think I'm crazy. I brought you all here to show you that you're wrong," he told the group. "I mean, do I look crazy? Do I seem out of control?"

"Are we speaking in relative terms or, um ...?" Mckay commented as he continued his oblivious consumption of the food they had been provided along with the others, aside from Lily.

"Look, Jace here has really fine-tuned the enzyme," Ford told them. "We know how to administer it now, how to regulate it, refine it. We've gotten so good, we can even lace food with it."

"Excuse me?" Mckay said in disbelief.

"Congratulations, you just had your first dose," Ford told them.

Mckay immediately spat his food out onto the table and began to angrily shout at the crazed man before them. Ronon looked furious with not only their captors, but himself as well for eating the food without a second thought. Teyla seemed unnerved at the thought of having to endure any type of unpleasant side effects they might have. Sheppard was calm, as he always was, but poised to strike in any way that he could. Lily simply sat and watched the rest of her team begin to panic. She had not eaten any food, and she would not in the future.

Sheppard followed Ford into a back room and attempted to persuade him to leave with them and go back to Atlantis. The man was more than stubborn and refused to go anywhere. He told Sheppard that this was his only chance to show the rest of the Atlantis expedition that he was no crazy, and then he could return a hero. Refusing to address any more of Sheppard's concerns he insisted that everything would work out fine, telling him that Sheppard would not be dosed with any of the enzyme so that he could report back Ford's success to Dr. Weir.

"OK, so why aren't these guys watching us?" Ronon asked as the five members of alpha team stood around the DHD as Mckay fidgeted inside of it.

"Ronon is right. They went to great trouble to get us here - why would they allow us to leave?" Teyla questioned curiously.

"Just waiting for the other shoe to drop," Sheppard said.

"Oh, that little bastard!" Mckay shouted standing up.

"There it goes," Sheppard quipped.

"He's taken out all the necessary control crystals, hasn't he?" Lily asked.

"Something I showed him how to do on a mission, I might add," Mckay confirmed.

"Well, that's not good," John remarked.

"That is the understatement of the year," Mckay replied once again panicking.

"Alright! See what you can do," Sheppard told him.

"OK, why don't we just take 'em? All we've gotta do is get our hands on one stunner. I can take 'em all," Ronon said sneering.

"I can help," Lily piped in, earning a glance of irritation from Ronon. "Or not…"

"Maybe, but if we mess it up, whatever trust we might have been given will disappear," John told his teammates.

"You want to make them trust us?" Teyla asked confused.

"We play it cool, we let 'em get comfortable. They're bound to make a mistake," John told her.

"And in the meantime?" Teyla asked in disbelief and annoyance.

"We play along," Sheppard said. " Come on. How are you guys feeling?"

"I didn't eat that much, I feel fine," Ronon said.

"I didn't eat anything," Lily commented smirking.

"Perhaps if we were able to fast, they would be unable to administer the enzyme," Teyla suggested, earning a scoff from Ronon.

"I doubt that. I don't think they would have a problem forcing us," John said reluctantly.

"Then we'll be fine, because I'll slaughter them all if they try to jab me with anything," Lily commented nonchalantly earning looks of hesitation from her fellow team members.

"Yeah, well, this thing is useless, and I ate my face off and I can tell you, I can feel it working," Mckay said worriedly.

"There's a good possibility that everything you're feeling at the moment might be psychosomatic," John said narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, is that right, Professor Science? Is that your expert opinion?" Mckay chided in agitation.

"Yes, it is."

"Well, I can tell you, when they up the dosage, the side effects will be very real and very unpredictable," Mckay responded as the team headed away from the useless DHD and the inoperable gate.

* * *

Unknown Planet, Jace's Lab, Unknown Time

Lily and Rodney had just stepped into what seemed to be a makeshift lab put together by a member of Ford's band of merry men. The scientist of the operation was called Jace, and he seemed very young and very eager. Rodney was not impressed with his less than sophisticated tactics when it came to science. Then again, Rodney considered most people to be beneath him when it came to intelligence.

Lily stood in the doorway of the lab, contemplating their situation. They had not been forced to eat anymore food or administered a more concentrated dose of the enzyme as of yet. Currently, Teyla and John had followed a team led by Ford's right hand man, Kanayo, to another planet on an operation against the Genii. Lily had been apprehensive about the two leaving without any means of protection other than the unstable enzyme toking men.

Lily was also beginning to wonder what would happen to her. She didn't seem to be a concern or of interest to the wayward Lieutenant. She felt that the only reason she was being kept here at all was to keep her from informing Dr. Weir and the rest of Atlantis of what was happening. Lily didn't like the feeling of constantly needing to watch her back. She was sure that these men saw her as no threat whatsoever, which would not usually bother her, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy about the possibility of being dosed with the enzyme.

As Jace finished informing Rodney of all the technology they had acquired he told them about the suspected in-fighting between the Wraith. It would seem that they were less than cordial from queen to queen when it came to sharing food sources. They were also worried about the possibility of telepathy being used against them since they had discovered Teyla's abilities. Rodney was, seemingly, impressed by all of the intel that Ford's men had gathered. He agreed to assist Jace in translating the Wraith intel they had gathered from their mission.

Lily did not want to help any of the men with any of the things that they were doing. She knew, however, that Rodney could not resist proving his intellectual prowess to the young, inexperienced, scientist. She left them to their translating and began to wander about the facility further. She came upon a room that had been set up like a gym. She could see Ronon standing off to one side with a skeptical look on his face as he watch Ford 'teaching' his men how to fight better.

As Ford finished his match, the smaller man turned to Ronon and began speaking with him. Lily sensed that this would not end well, due to Ronon's often uncontrollable temper, so she approached them cautiously, eyeing Ronon with a look of warning.

"I did save your life," she caught Ford finishing.

"I remember," Ronon replied.

"You know, it's funny. You ask a dozen people who they thought would win a fight between you and me, people would choose you hands down. Hell, I'd choose you. But we went toe to toe," Ford said.

"Yeah, we did. What about her?" Ronon said gesturing to Lily who was standing off to the side of the two men.

"Her?" Ford asked in surprise. "What about her? She's not supposed to be here."

"Thanks for making me feel so welcome," Lily scoffed.

"That's not what I meant. Why are you here?" he asked curiously turning to face her.

"Um… I was sent from the SGC to assist with whatever. I mean I can translate stuff.." she trailed off uneasily.

"And?"

"Um… I know a lot about history?" she pondered.

"So you're like an archaeologist. What use are you to Sheppard?" Ford asked.

"I know a lot about the ancients. Mckay is smart, but I know different things. Like history," she replied.

"Yeah, history, I got that. How old are you?" he asked

"Uh, twenty-three," she told him.

"Wait a minute, you're that freak kid genius. The SGC recruited you? When?" he asked her in excitement.

"Oh, when I finished school seven years ago. I've been a permanent fixture ever since," she said smiling, which seemed to put him at ease.

"That is so cool. No wonder Sheppard wants you on his team. So what did the big guy here mean about you? Think the enzyme will make you even smarter, smarter than Mckay?" Ford suggested.

"No, she can fight," Ronon said, he very much wanted to watch Ford be taken down by a small female.

"You can fight?" For questioned her with a grin. "Wanna spar?"

"No, Ronon's just mad because I accidentally won a match against him and he wants to see me get my ass kicked," Lily scolded.

"Well, if you ever change your mind, I wouldn't be too hard on you. You know, wouldn't want to mess up your pretty little ass," he said winking playfully.

Lily laughed nervously and sent a withering glare in Ronon's direction. The large man raised one eyebrow and ignored her displeasure. The group's attention turned to the noise being made by the return of the strike team sent out with John and Teyla. The gathered in Jace's lab so that Lieutenant Ford could inform them of his plan.

"One of the added bonuses of killing a Wraith is, every now and again, you get your hands on a couple of these," Ford said holding up some type of Wraith tracking device. "Now thanks to Jace and some of the computers that we borrowed from the Genii, we've been able to figure out the exact flight path of one of their hive ships."

"It's decimating all inhabited worlds in its path," Jace said sadly.

"It has to be stopped," Ford asserted.

"I've been able to calculate that, in the next several days, it will be forced to make a hyperspace pause very near an uninhabited planet that happens to have a Stargate," Jace said gesturing to a screen with coordinates on it.

"We gate to that planet, get on the hive ship, plant the C4 in the Dart bay, and get out," Kanayo said simply.

"We could save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives," Jace said.

"So?" Ford asked hopefully.

"Wow," Sheppard said in a tone of disbelief.

"'Wow'?" Ford asked for clarification.

"You heard me."

"Let me see if I can couch what Colonel Sheppard means by 'wow' in more explicit terms," Rodney spat out. "That is a terrible plan."

"Rodney," Teyla cautioned him.

"Made all the more frightening by the fact that you think it's a good plan," Mckay told him angrily.

"What's wrong with it?" Ford asked with confusion.

"What's right with it?! Look, let's just for a second give in to reckless abandon and assume that it will be possible to plant a single charge large enough to destroy an entire hive ship," Rodney huffed.

"We're planning on secondary explosions in the Dart bay," Jace told him.

"Regardless, the hive ship will be on a hyperspace pause, yes, but it will not enter the planet's atmosphere, nor will it take up any sort of stable orbit. It will be flying through space, which means that unless your enzyme allows you to jump much higher than you've let on…" Rodney trailed off crossing his arms in his usual 'I've just won' stance.

"We've got a spaceship," Ford told them.

"Oh yeah? Really? What's it made out of, huh? Bark?" Mckay joked.

"No, it's real, McKay. In fact, it's the only ship I'd feel comfortable using on a mission like this," Ford replied gesturing them to follow him outside.

Lily watched in horror as the men pulled back a camouflage cover to reveal a wraith dart. Not only had these men kidnapped wraith, but they had recovered an entire dart. She was impressed, and she hadn't even been in the Pegasus galaxy that long. She understood well enough that the wraith were formidable enemies though. She couldn't imagine how this rag tag band of thugs managed to accomplish so much. To her, it was a testament to the intellect and skill of a well trained military officer. Even if he was a doped up crazy person.

After Mckay had once again blown up, yelling about how terrible of a plan it was, Sheppard told Ford he would speak with him about it. The angry canadian stormed off followed by the Colonel while the rest continued to stand around the dart. Teyla seemed too stunned to even attempt to make small talk. Ronon was seething in rage as he had been since their awakening in captivity.

"So, if we have to kill Mckay think you can do it?" Ford asked Lily casually.

"What?!" she shouted in disgust.

"I'm just kidding. Sheppard will convince Mckay, he always does. Doesn't mean you aren't smart enough to do it by yourself," he told her smiling.

"I'm not," Lily replied before turning and walking into the forest.

"You shouldn't wander too far away on your own," Kanayo called after her in a mocking tone.

"She'll be fine," Ford said, then he and his men returned to the compound.

"Perhaps we should follow Dr. Coutu, and bring her back to the safety of the compound," Teyla suggested, breaking the heavy silence.

"I'll make sure she doesn't get lost. Go check on Sheppard and Mckay," Ronon told the athosian woman before turning to follow Lily into the woods.

Lily stomped through the dense underbrush of the forest, quietly cursing in every language that she knew. She wanted to hit something. She felt so helpless. Lily had never been good at sitting and waiting, but she also knew that having too much knowledge was a dangerous thing. More than that, having people know that you knew too much, was a deadly thing. She was frustrated that she had to deal with the mocking looks from Ford and his men. She wanted to prove her worth by knocking them all unconscious. She knew that she could easily fix the dart by herself, of course Mckay would get it done faster because he was more familiar with the technology, but her expertise would suffice as well.

"Hosenscheisser, shiza dummkopf…" Lily muttered to herself as she turned and punched a tree with a shout.

She went to strike the broad, sturdy, piece of bark again but was stopped by a large hand pulling at her shoulder. She turned around quickly, poised to strike, but immediately relaxed when she realized it was only Ronon. She sighed and turned away again, staring at the spot where some of the bark had chipped off from her first hit.

"What were you saying?" Ronon asked.

"What?" Lily replied in confusion.

"You were saying something before you hit the tree, I couldn't understand," he told her.

"Oh, it was german… I was, um, swearing, sorry," she told him blushing.

"Why won't you look at me?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing to look at," she quipped, turning around and staring him straight in the eyes with her usual mask of nonchalance slipping into all of her facial features.

"You're angry," Ronon said folding his arms across his chest.

"Really, I wonder why," she said walking back towards the compound.

"You're scared," he said not moving.

"You aren't?" she asked turning to face him again.

"Fear doesn't fuel me, anger does," he answered honestly.

"Well, I don't really give a damn about what happens to those psychos, but yes… I am afraid for the rest of you," she told him.

"Not for yourself?" he asked moving closer.

"No," she replied simply.

"Because you don't care," he guessed.

"You don't either," she told him, turning to leave and not looking back at him.

* * *

Unknown Planet, Ford's Cave, Unknown Time

Lily and Ronon entered the main room where they had first been brought. They took quick notice of both Teyla and Rodney's subdued forms, sitting down and favoring their arms. It seemed that both of them had been forcefully injected with the wraith enzyme. Sheppard and Ford walked into the room just in time to see several of the men begin to approach Lily and Ronon.

"Wait," Sheppard called out, causing the men to pause and look to Ford.

"What is it Sheppard?" Ford asked tiredly.

"Dr. Coutu, Lily, she can't take the enzyme," Sheppard began.

"Why not?" Ford questioned him in annoyance.

"Because… she has certain medical conditions. We don't know how she would react," he tried.

"The enzyme will fix all of that," Ford said gesturing to his men to continue.

Ronon stepped in front of Lily with a furious glare aimed at the approaching needles. Lily shrunk back, closer to the entrance of the cave, deciding that making a run for it might be easier. Two very large men stood as guards, blocking her exit. Sheppard yelled at Ford, causing him to have John, Teyla, and Rodney removed from the main room. Lily narrowed her eyes in anticipation of the fight.

"You'll see, once you start taking it you won't want to stop. It makes everything better, just try it," Ford insisted, before leaving the room.

"Listen boys, as much as I'd like to stay and chat I really have somewhere, anywhere, else to be," Lily joked backing up to a wall.

"You think your, friend, here can protect you," one of the men sneered.

"He doesn't have to," Lily sighed, realizing that she didn't want to see Ronon hurt. "Go on, poke me if you must."

"Wait," Ronon called out. "Are you sure?"

Lily nodded to him, though her eyes told a different story, but Ronon stilled himself as the men injected both of them with concentrated doses of the enzyme. After they finished Kanayo patted Ronon on the shoulder encouragingly and invited him to come spar when he started feeling the effects of the enzyme. Lily rolled her eyes when she did not receive the same invitation.

"You okay?" Ronon asked.

"Yeah, sure, fine. What's a little prick gonna do?" Lily joked, though her voice was unsteady.

* * *

Unknown Planet, Ford's Cave, Unknown Time

Over the next few weeks Ford's men trained the enzyme dosed members of Colonel Sheppard's team. Mckay and Jace spent their time between working on the wraith dart and deciphering more of the information they had acquired from the stolen wraith tech. Teyla and Ronon had vigorous sparring sessions with the other enzyme dosed men at the compound. Sheppard watched in silent observation as he began to see his friends spiral out of control, no longer acting as they normally would.

Lily did not assist Rodney and Jace, nor did she spar with anyone. She ate, slept, and took the enzyme. She would disappear into the woods for hours every day, practicing Lok'nel and keeping fit with simple exercise that did not attract much attention. At night she would lay awake deciphering the wraith tech from memory to occupy her mind. She avoided the others, did not speak unless asked a direct question, and seemed to become more agitated day by day.

During lunch one day, Ronon and Teyla were sitting across from each other with matching sneers adorning their faces. Both Pegasus galaxy natives were obviously and deeply affected by the enzyme. After some heated glances, they exchanged some harsh words and began attacking each other. Their fight only ended when Colonel Sheppard managed to get in their way, earning a harsh punch from the large Satedan.

"What the hell's gotten into you two?" Sheppard yelled at them from the floor. "Oh right, nevermind."

"We need to talk about this," Ronon said.

"About what?" John asked.

"The enzymes working, no ones saying it but we're all thinking it. It works," Ronon told him grinning sickly.

"I must admit I have noticed an increased amount of strength," Teyla said as she paced around the room.

"Maybe Ford is right, maybe it's worth looking into to see what this stuff can do," Ronon suggested.

"They were an hour late delivering our doses yesterday and I felt awful," Teyla stressed. "It frightens me how reliant my body has become on the enzyme always being in my system. What would happen if we suddenly could not receive it?"

"The only neg is that you've gotta keep taking it. I'm gonna stay on it," Ronon said looking at Sheppard expectantly.

"What about you?" John asked Teyla.

"The fact that I am considering it makes me feel…" she trailed off as Lily entered the room.

"Mckay's ready," she said before heading back outside.

"What's up with her?" Sheppard asked rhetorically.

"Can't stomach the enzyme I guess," Ronon said.

"Somehow I don't think that's it."

They followed Lily to the wraith dart where Jace and Rodney were looking at some computer screens and talking excitedly. Jace gestured for Sheppard to climb the step ladder and sit in the dart. He followed the Colonel up and helped him to get situated. The other men and Ford had now also gathered around the dart, everyone prepared to leave for the mission. The sense of excitement was buzzing through the group.

"Ok now… could you move?" Rodney rudely asked Jace. "Look this is probably gonna make you a little uneasy, but, uh, when the canopy forms it's perfectly opaque."

"Then how am I gonna fly this thing?" John asked in irritation.

"The whole thing is one giant heads-up display. It'll show you all the pertinent information that you need," Rodney told him.

"Yeah, you mean in Wraith," SHeppard exclaimed taking in the confusing mass of symbols on the display.

"Yeah, which is why I've installed an interface to translate a lot of the readouts," Mckay told him.

"And by 'a lot' you mean 'all', because my wraith's not all that good," John told him smiling nervously.

"Enough to get you by," the scientist replied.

"I knew you could do it. Right on time. Kanayo's gonna get you suited up, you should get ready," Ford said to Rodney as he climbed back down the ladder.

"Right," Rodney replied skittishly.

"Seems a little nervous," Ford commented skeptically.

"You know Mckay, he'll be fine," Sheppard told him.

"You know how to dial the DHD on this thing?" Ford asked.

"The address is memorized," John answered fiddling with the controls.

"Good, good," Ford said thoughtfully. "Listen I should probably tell you, uh, there's been a slight change of plans."

"Oh yeah?" John asked cautiously.

"Kanayo!" Ford shouted, causing all of the men to turn on John's team pointing their weapons at them.

"Don't even think about it," Kanayo yelled at Ronon who had drawn his sword.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sheppard asked Ford angrily.

"Mckay and Lily are gonna stay here while we do the op," he told the disgruntled Colonel. "Take them!"

Lily faced the two men that stared at her and Rodney, ready to drag them away. One of them grabbed Rodney's upper arm and began pulling him towards the compound, while the other reached out to grab Lily's wrist. As Rodney continuously shouted no, but did nothing else to resist, Lily snapped into action. She reached out to grip the man's neck with one hand, feeling around for a moment before drawing her hand back and then striking him hard on the right side of his neck. The man instantly crumpled to the ground. Two more men approached her, and she pulled out two handmade knives she had crafted in the secrecy of the forest since they had arrived on the planet.

"Stop!" Ford shouted to his men.

"You should bring me," Lily said simply, resheathing the knives.

"This wasn't part of the plan," Sheppard spat at Ford while Kanayo confiscated Ronon's sword from the confrontive looking Satedan.

"Neither was you heading back to didn't really buy the whole 'I wanna go home' speech, did you, huh?" Ford told him smugly. "Always underestimated me Sheppard. You need to stop doing that. Complete the mission and Mckay lives."

"We can't complete the mission, Ford. It's a bad plan," Sheppard yelled in agitation.

"You said it was a great plan," the crazed man countered.

"You didn't buy the whole 'It's a great plan' speech did you?" Sheppard retorted.

"Get this dart in the air and come scoop us up," he ordered Sheppard before jumping down to join the others. "Oh, and the dart DHD will only dial to the planet we're going to and back here, just in case Mckay's life isn't enough to get you to do the right thing."

"Aiden, what are you doing?" Teyla asked in concern.

"Just making sure you guys hold up your end of the bargain," he told her. "It's okay, give em back their weapons."

"You sure? What about her?" Kanayo asked hesitantly, continuing to point Ronon's sword at its owner.

"Yeah, if we're gonna do this we all gotta work together, besides, the little doctor is a better fighter than she let on," he said before moving to hand John a pistol and a P90. "Good luck to us all."

"Stand by for pick up," John informed them as he activated the dart and rose into the air.

John slowly brought the dart around around and scooped the mission members up, heaving a sigh as he dialed the address of the planet where the wraith hive ship would be waiting. He cursed silently for a moment before flying the dart through the gate and then ascending into the sky towards the massive enemy ship.


	3. Chapter 3

**_*****Here is chapter three! Please let me know if you see any inconsistencies or mistakes. I try to edit before I post but I can't catch everything. Thanks!*****_**

**_*****Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely close to anything affiliated with the Stargate franchise. This is merely a work of fiction based on the unbelievably awesome movie, and series. There will be SPOILERS throughout the fic so don't read if you haven't seen any of the series. The only thing I lay claim to is my OC and some plot.*****_**

**Chapter 3: The Hive**

* * *

Wraith Hive Ship

Lily sat in the corner of a holding cell on the hive ship, knees pulled up to her chin, watching her friends slowly waking up around her. Ford was the first to awaken, taking sight of her immediately with a confused glance, before he checked the pulses of the other members of their strike team. When he was satisfied he approached Lily and sank down next to her to sit.

"Okay, why did you wake up before me?" he asked.

"I went down on my first stun shot. Figured it'd be better to wake up earlier," she replied.

"You just gave up in the middle of a fight?" he asked her incredulously.

"I did not just give up. I made a tactical decision based on the fact that we were getting our asses handed to us," she told him.

"You could have tried harder. We might have gotten away," he huffed.

"Kanayo and Teyla were already down, while I appreciate you finally acknowledging my fighting prowess, we could not have dragged them away and completed the mission," she reasoned.

"So why do you fight so good?" he questioned ignoring her logical statement.

"Training back on Earth and good reasons to put it to practice," she responded.

"Ford?" Kanayo groaned as he began to sit up.

"Take it easy, you'll be fine in a minute," Ford told him without moving from his position next to Lily.

"Ugh, I still hate getting stunned," he replied as he sat up fully and dropped his head into his hands.

"Where are we?" another voice asked from the floor.

"Ronon?" Lily said as he too began to lift himself up into a sitting position.

"We're in a holding cell," Ford said as Lily sprung up to go check on her teammate.

"Are you okay?" she asked putting one hand on his shoulder to steady him while the other swept across his body checking for damage.

"Fine," he said giving her an annoyed look at her worry.

"Of course," Lily replied blushing before she moved over to check on Teyla who was also waking up. "How are you doing?"

"I am alright, John?" she asked immediately.

"He's probably going to be out for a while, they brought him in here after we got tossed in," Lily told the worried woman.

"We should be thinking about how to get out of here," Ford said from across the room.

"How about we wait until everyone is back to fighting condition?" Lily suggested angrily.

"I agree," Teyla said moving to sit next to Sheppard, putting his head in her lap.

The group sat in silence as they waited for Colonel Sheppard to awake. Ford, Kanayo, and Ronon were thinking of ways to escape and complete the mission, while Teyla and Lily only had thoughts of getting out without losing any more lives. Sheppard began to stir, only to become completely still again a moment later. Teyla stroked his hair as she watched his peaceful face begin to furrow in pain.

"I believe he is waking," she said to no one in particular.

"Finally," Ford muttered.

"Are you alright?" Teyla asked John as his eyes opened.

"We're in a holding cell?" he asked looking at her.

"Yes," she replied.

"On a hive ship…" he guessed.

"Yupp," Lily said, finally forcing Sheppard to notice that he and Teyla were not alone.

"Well then no, I'm not doing so good," he said sitting up and looking around.

"I can't believe you screwed up," Ford said as he marched over to where Sheppard was sitting.

"I did what?" John replied incredulously as he stood up.

"You set off the alarm. You ruined the mission," the younger man accused getting right in John's face.

"The dart went on autopilot the second I got close to the hive. You're lucky I was able to get you out," John told him.

"Well, why would it do that? Why would it go on autopilot?" Ford asked.

"That's what jumpers do when they gate to Atlantis," Sheppard replied.

"Well, why didn't you say something?" Ford shouted.

"Why didn't I say something?" John shouted back as Ronon tried to interject only to stopped by Kanayo.

"You want me to fail. You want me to look bad!" Ford accused.

"Yeah, that's right. You snot-nosed brat. I put my team's life on the line just to prove you wrong!" John responded angrily.

"We've got company," Ronon said as he stepped in front of the web-like door of the holding cell, glaring at the approaching wraith.

"Move away," the head wraith told him.

"What do you want?" Ronon asked not moving.

"The one who flew the ship," the wraith replied.

"Why don't you start with me?" Ronon suggested snarling.

The head wraith motioned to the two guards to take Ronon. One of the guards held up his stunner and promptly shot Ronon, only knocking him to the floor but not unconscious. Lily and Teyla both let out nearly inaudible gasps, while Ford and Kanayo sneered at the wraith. Sheppard opened his mouth for a moment to speak, but Ronon gave him a sharp look. However, John Sheppard was nothing if not the leader of his team, and that meant standing up for even the large angry warrior he had come to call a friend.

"No, wait! You want me," Sheppard called out.

The head wraith stepped forward into the cell and peered into John's eyes before sniffing loudly into the air. He hissed in satisfaction and the turned to leave. The other two guards held their stunners up again but John walked behind the retreating wraith compliantly. Lily and Teyla both approached Ronon as soon as the cell door hissed closed. He was not happy, none of them were.

"It's alright, there's always a way out," Ford told the group.

"If he dies, you die," Ronon spat out.

It seemed like only moments before Colonel Sheppard was being returned to their cell. The others had waited for his return in charged silence. Ronon paced the cell, Teyla meditated, Lily sat staring out of the cell door, and the other two plotted quietly in the corner. They knew they would have to escape eventually. Three out of the five remaining occupants of the tiny cell wanted to wait for John. They were lucky enough that he returned quickly, before another argument occurred.

"Colonel?" Teyla asked as John appeared in front of the door, before a wraith guard shoved him inside to the floor of the cell. "Are you unharmed?"

"Yeah," Sheppard groaned rolling over to face the ceiling.

"Where'd they take you?" Ronon asked.

"A little Q and A with the queen of the hive," he replied.

"What'd you tell her?" Ford asked.

"It was a short conversation. She walked out," John said.

"Why?" Lily asked curiously.

"I dunno. Maybe she was late for a meeting," Sheppard responded sarcastically.

"No, there's something else. I sense she was agitated, even angry," Teyla said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Why?" Sheppard asked her standing and facing her.

"Another hive ship has arrived," Teyla said.

"Are you sure there's another ship?" John asked her.

"I sense it, close by," she replied.

"Well, maybe they're planning on culling the planet together," Sheppard suggested.

"Or they're gonna fight for it," Ford said.

"Either way, the planet's only a few days away, so we don't have much time if we still intend to stop them," Kanayo said.

"Alright, first things first. How to get out. Any luck?" Sheppard asked the room.

"Not yet," Ronon replied.

"Don't worry, I'll figure a way out," Ford told them.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that," Sheppard sighed.

"His escape plan can't be as bad as his infiltration plan," Lily sneered earning a glare from Aiden.

"Last time we were on one of these ships, McKay was able to open the door by cutting right into the wall," Sheppard said looking at the control panel.

"You mean like with a knife?" Ford asked pulling out a small knife.

"You have a knife?!" John replied shocked.

"One for them to find, one to keep. Everybody knows that," Ford responded.

"Right! Forgot all about that rule," Sheppard said sarcastically.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm here," Aiden said smirking.

"Right!" Sheppard muttered as he lined up his finger with where he thought they should throw the knife. "Now, just, uh, take your time…"

Ford tilted his head to the side, lifting his hand up, and then he threw the small knife at the panel. He hit the panel, but nothing happened. The satisfying squelch of the wraith tech was the only effect the knife had. John put his hand down and scowled at the irrational man.

"I said take your time!" Sheppard exclaimed in annoyance.

"I hit the exact spot you were pointing at!" Ford defended himself.

"Alright, alright. Anybody else have a knife?" John asked the rest of the room.

Ronon stepped forward and pulled a knife from under his fingerless gloves. He took aim at the control panel and released his knife with a small flick of his wrist. The impact made a louder noise still but did not cause anything to occur in their cell.

"Getting warmer," Lily commented.

"How many of those things have you got?!" Sheppard asked as Ronon pulled another knife out from under his shirt.

"How many d'you need?" Ronon replied throwing the knife at the control panel with no response.

"This is ridiculous, we can't just keep throwing knives hoping we hit it before we run out," Lily said.

"I agree, there must be some way to increase the accuracy of our throws," Teyla commented.

"Does anyone know what the control panel looks like on the other side?" Lily asked, receiving blank stares from everyone in return.

"Just keep trying Chewie," Sheppard told Ronon.

"Chewie?" Lily asked as Ronon threw another knife at the panel causing the lights to turn off in the cell.

"Yupp," Sheppard replied smirking.

"Guess you're Han then?" Lily said narrowing her eyes.

"Sure, wanna be my Princess Leia?" John asked her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"You are barking up the wrong tree buddy," Lily replied rolling her eyes, then turning to see Ronon throw another knife at the panel.

"You must have a helluva time going through airports," Sheppard quipped as Ronon pulled yet another knife out of his hair.

Ronon gave him a withering glare as he once again took aim at the control panel. With a flick of his wrist the knife made a satisfying squelching noise and the doors to their cell opened up. Ronon and Lily walked into the hallway to check for guards. As Sheppard turned around to acknowledge Ford he saw that the young man was injecting himself with more enzyme.

"Ford, what the hell are you doing?" John exclaimed.

"That's the last of it," he replied.

"What about the rest of us?" Ronon asked angrily.

"You don't need it," Kanayo said.

"You don't know that," Ronon spat.

"We're heading to the dart bay. Stay together and stay quiet," Sheppard told Ford before the group set off.

* * *

Atlantis Gateroom

"Unscheduled activation," Chuck the gate tech called out at the stargate began turning. "It's Doctor McKay's IDC."

"Lower the shield," Dr. Weir ordered as she ran down to the gateroom.

"I know what I need to do!" Rodney shouted as he stepped through the gate.

"Rodney, what's happened? Where are the rest of them?" Weir asked as Rodney began pacing.

"There's no time, no time. The planet - not Ford's, the one the, uh, ship's headed towards, we need to get there and we don't have much time. I was barely able to escape myself, but I managed to take out the guards. Oh, you should have seen me! I was amazing! I wish we'd got it on camera because ... That's not the point," Rodney rambled.

"Rodney, slow down. Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked him.

"Yes, yes. I mean, um... I mean, I did take out the guards and they were huge and dumb and stupid and…" he trailed off.

"What guards?" Weir asked in confusion.

"Ford's guards! Haven't I mentioned Ford?" Rodney exclaimed.

"No, you didn't, and you haven't even mentioned Sheppard, Teyla, Lily and Ronon either," Weir told him.

"Yes! They were there too, and there were the two guards. They were huge and massive and I had to take 'em out, so I had to inject some of the enzyme," Mckay said.

"You took some of the enzyme?!" Elizabeth shouted,

"No-no-no-no-no-no-no. I didn't take some of the enzyme. I took a **lot** of the enzyme, because I **had** to, because I had to take out the guards, which I did, and you should have seen me, I was **amazing**!" Rodney said.

"Are you insane?!" Weir questioned in exasperation.

"Yes, yes, now that I've taken the enzyme, yes," McKay replied.

"Rodney, focus. Where is Colonel Sheppard?" Elizabeth said trying to calm the disgruntled scientist.

"No, no, no, I had to take the enzyme because, because I had to take out the guards! But that's not the point - the point is we don't have enough time. We need to stop the ship from getting to where the ship is going," he continued to ramble.

"Come on, come on, let's take a walk to the Infirmary, alright?" Weir told him looping an arm through his.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, what are you doing?" he asked yanking his arm free. "No-no-no-no, I don't wanna go to the Infirmary. I wanna go to the, to the, uh… the, um…"

"Doctor Beckett, we have an emergency. We're headed to you," Elizabeth called through her headset as McKay collapsed to the ground.

* * *

Wraith Hive Ship

The group's escape did not go as planned. They had stopped along the way to rescue several people who seemed to be still alive that were trapped in wraith cocoons. Their stop had resulted in their recapture by the wraith guards. This time they were split up into two cells and all weapons were removed. Colonel Sheppard and Ford were in one cell with one of the women they had tried to rescue. Ronon, Teyla, Lily and Kanayo were in another cell and they were rapidly approaching detox from the wraith enzyme.

"Are you alright?" Teyla asked Ronon who had laid down on the bench in the cell with one arm draped over his face.

"Mmm. Just tired," he grunted in response.

"No, the enzymes leaving your bodies. Mine too," Kanayo said.

"Bad. Maybe not for you… you guys haven't been on the enzyme for long. But me on the other hand…" he trailed off nearly in tears.

"You won't make it," Lily said from the corner she was sitting.

"Excuse me," Kanayo said standing up.

"Going off it cold turkey, after how much you've taken and for how long… I've seen stronger men die for less," Lily laughed hauntedly.

"Lily, you should not say such things," Teyla scolded.

"If you don't wanna die you have to fight, forget about the enzyme, tell yourself you don't need it, it's not there," Lily mused.

"I think I can manage, kid," Kanayo told her before sitting back down.

"Suit yourself," Lily replied.

The four sat in the cell in silence for quite some time. Ronon began to sweat profusely and had not sat up on the bench and was gripping his stomach in pain. Kanayo was lying on the floor writhing and groaning. Lily sat silently in the corner and watched as Teyla tried to soothe Kanayo's misery. Teyla herself was beginning to show signs of distress.

"Kanayo, you must be strong! Fight it!" Teyla encouraged as she crouched over him.

"I do not know what else to do for him," she said standing and moving to check on Ronon.

"There's nothing we can do," Ronon said as he shivered.

"Kanayo?" Teyla called as the man convulsed suddenly and then lay completely still.

"He's dead," Lily said after she checked for his pulse.

"Is that what's gonna happen to us?" Ronon asked.

"No," Lily stated confidently.

A few minutes later they heard footsteps approaching the cell. A male wraith and two guards appeared at the door. Ronon walked to the cell door and stared at them with malice. He spat out a few words earning him a stunner blast that knocked him unconscious. Then a wraith guard opened the cell and dragged Kanayo's body out. Teyla and Lily moved Ronon further into the cell and sat on the floor next to him.

* * *

Atlantis, Elizabeth's office

"Well, look at you," Dr. Weir said standing from behind her desk as Rodney came into her office.

"Ah, yes. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as the idiom goes," McKay said blandly.

"You gave us quite a scare," she told him.

"It was very strange. The whole time I was under the influence of the enzyme, it felt like I was, uh, I was perfectly lucid - eloquent, even. That it was you who wasn't making any sense or listening to reason. It was very peculiar. I think I kind of understand how Ford must have been feeling this whole time," Rodney explained.

"Rodney? What happened out there? And where are the others?" Dr. Weir asked him.

"I don't know exactly, but I think I can figure it out," he said as the began to walk towards the control room. "I told you Ford's alive."

"Well, you told me, but I didn't believe you," Elizabeth said.

"The man is nothing if not resilient. He's been busy, too. He's gathered himself together a little gang, doped them all up on the enzyme. They're the ones that caught us, drugged us, and coerced Sheppard, Teyla, Lily, and Ronon to join them on a mission to destroy a hive ship," McKay said sitting down at his station in the control room.

"A hive ship?!" Weir exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah, they managed to steal themselves a Dart. Like I said, he's been busy. Look, when they didn't return from the mission, I realised something had obviously gone wrong. Now, I have the coordinates to the planet that the hive ship was headed towards to cull," Rodney told her.

"So if the team is still alive - maybe captured on the ship - there's a chance we can rescue them," Elizabeth mused.

"Yeah. At the very least we can warn the planet of the impending culling," Rodney reasoned.

"I'll alert Colonel Caldwell," she replied before going to find the Colonel.

"Very good."

* * *

Wraith Hive Ship

It had been a long time since Kanayo had been taken away. In Sheppard and Ford's cell, the young lieutenant had been removed and placed in a cocoon to preserve him for feeding. The woman they had attempted to rescue had been plying John for information about where he came from ever since they were left alone. When John was taken to see the queen of the hive he realized that the young woman, Neera, was a wraith worshipper. Sheppard quickly tried to turn things in his favor as he attempted to convince the queen that he and the others were wraith worshippers as well and they had been sent by another queen to sabotage her.

Before the wraith queen could punish Sheppard for his defiance by feeding on him, Ford burst into the room, took out the guards, and put quite a few holes in the queen. Sheppard followed Aiden out of the room intent on freeing the others. Ford had managed to escape the cocoon, acquire more enzyme, and recover their weapons. He gave John the directions to the cell that the others were being held in and left to continue their mission of sabotage.

Ronon, Teyla, and Lily had all finally recovered from the withdrawal symptoms of the wraith enzyme. They were pacing the cell thinking of ways to escape. No one had any weapons to aid in their plight, but they were determined none the less. They had decided to jump the next wraith guard that approached their cell. They heard footsteps running towards them and then the ship's alarm started blaring.

"Get ready," Ronon said as the footsteps came closer.

"How 'bout I bust you guys outta here?" Sheppard said as he came into view.

"If you don't mind," Ronon told him smirking.

"I've gotta get myself one of these," John said as he blasted the control panel with Ronon's gun. "Where's Kanayo?"

"He is dead," Teyla told him. "Ford?"

"Well, last I saw he was alive. I'm stickin with that," Sheppard told them as he handed their weapons back to them, before they all ran out of the cell.

"The culling is beginning," Teyla said as they stopped at the entrance to the dart bay which was swarming with activity.

"We've gotta stop em," Sheppard said.

"How?" Ronon asked.

"Stay here. When I give you my signal, get out in the open," Sheppard told them as he ran off back through the corridors.

"Well that was specific," Lily muttered.

"Is that the signal?" Teyla asked a few minutes later, pointing to a dart that was not flying out of the bay, but towards them.

"I hope so," Lily said before running out onto the platform, closely followed by the others.

* * *

Atlantis control room

"Copy that, Atlantis out," Chuck said as he received a message from the Deadalus.

"Doctor Weir?" he called approaching her office.

"We received word from Daedalus. They said they should be back to Atlantis by nineteen hundred hours," Chuck told her.

"They called the search off?" Weir asked standing up.

"They said there was nothing to search for," he told her sadly.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Offworld activation!' Chuck yelled as he sat back down at his station.

"Who is it?" Elizabeth asked hopefully as she approached Chuck.

"We have an I.D.C. It's Colonel Sheppard's code!" he told her smiling.

"Let 'em in!" she replied running to the gate.

"Sorry we're late," John said casually as they stepped through the gate.

"We forgot the souvenirs too," Lily joked, with a huge smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

_*****Here is the fourth chapter! Just a little something to set up the next chapter and delve further into things. :D Thank you to my second reviewer Spangos73! I'm glad you like Lily. Thank you also to whoever is reading this! It means a lot to know that people are interested. Chapter five should be up in the next day.*****_

_*****Also! I changed the dates in the first chapter. I've been trying to figure out exact dates because it drives me insane when I can't be specific. It's not so easy though, so these dates are the closest approximations I could get to.*****_

**_***Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely close to anything affiliated with the Stargate franchise. This is merely a work of fiction based on the unbelievably awesome movie, and series. There will be SPOILERS throughout the fic so don't read if you haven't seen any of the series. The only thing I lay claim to is my OC and some plot.***_**

**Chapter 4: A Day in the Life of Atlantis**

* * *

Atlantis, balcony in damaged section

Lily stood on a rather large balcony overlooking the ocean somewhere in the bowels of Atlantis, watching the sunrise. She had been on a morning jog around the city and had found this place to be peaceful, quiet, and far away from everyone else. She had even thought about climbing up the railing to lay on the roof of the balcony's overhang, but decided that she didn't want to take the chance.

Ronon had also been out running early that morning, though unlike most other days Sheppard was not with him. The tired Colonel had opted for staying in bed that morning, complaining of a back ache from sparring. Ronon had smirked, knowing that it was he who had caused John's distress. Sheppard often lost focus when Teyla or the other women on the base would enter the sparring room. Ronon found it amusing, and always took advantage of the distraction. Now though, he had stopped outside of the balcony Lily was standing on. He couldn't help himself as he walked outside to stand with her.

"Beautiful isn't it?" she said gesturing to the sunrise.

"Yeah," Ronon replied.

"So what brings you out here so early in the morning, without your flyboy?" Lily asked him referring to Sheppard.

"Flyboy?" Ronon asked in confusion.

"It's something we call the airforce pilots on our world," she explained.

"So Sheppard?" he assumed.

"Yes… So did you ditch him somewhere because he's too slow?" she questioned jovially.

"No, he stayed in bed," Ronon told her.

"Did you break something else on him?" Lily sighed.

"No, his back is achy," Ronon defended. "He's old."

"He is most certainly not old, you just like taking advantage of his short attention span when the two of you are sparring," Lily scolded.

"Not my fault," Ronon replied smirking.

"Right… And you're just so un-distractible, aren't you?" Lily teased.

"I focus better than Sheppard," he offered.

"That's not saying much," she replied smiling. "Hey, wanna race back to the mess and get some breakfast?"

Ronon narrowed his eyes at her to see if she was serious, she only smiled in return then took off running. He smiled at her retreating form before he realized that she had taken a head start. He pushed off the railing of the balcony and ran after her, grinning like an idiot the whole way. As the neared the mess hall, he had passed her in long quick strides. Lily did not want to go down without a fight. She called out to him causing him to slow for a moment. She used the opportunity to bolt ahead and tackle him through the mess hall doors.

"I win!" she exclaimed standing up.

"You cheated," he accused from his spot on the floor.

"We never said there were any rules. You shouldn't have gotten distracted," she told him smirking.

"Did you just tackle Ronon?" Sheppard asked in surprise as he and Teyla approached the two.

"It was an effective strategy, don't ya think?" Lily asked stealing a water bottle off John's tray.

"It seems as though they were participating in some type of contest. Who won?" Teyla asked in amusement.

"I did! Tackled my opponent across the finish line," Lily announced proudly.

"I went through the doors first," Ronon said standing up.

"A technicality…" Lily insisted.

"Get some food you two and come sit down. Try not to tackle anyone till after breakfast, Lily," Sheppard said as he and Teyla went to sit at their usual table.

"I actually need to head back to my room, tell Sheppard I'll see him at lunch," Lily told Ronon running before trotting away towards her room.

Ronon shook his head as he watched her go. She had been full of energy this morning, incredibly happy. He wished that she could be like that all the time, but she was distant and cold during missions. It didn't help Ronon's confusion that sometimes it seemed as though Lily wanted more from him than friendship. He hadn't needed to consider the ramifications of romantic entanglements in quite some time. He ignored the curiosity bubbling inside of him and proceeded to fill his tray with food, and join John and Teyla at their table.

"Where's Lily?" John asked.

"Said she needed to go to her room and she'd see you at lunch," Ronon told her before beginning to eat.

"I'll probably catch up with her before then," Sheppard commented.

"Why?" Ronon asked.

"I need to talk to her about something," John replied surprised that Ronon cared enough to inquire.

"About what?" the Satedan continued prodding his friend for information.

"A mission I'm proposing to Dr. Weir… Why do you care anyways?" Sheppard asked him narrowing his eyes.

Ronon shrugged his shoulders and continued eating his breakfast. John and Teyla exchanged glances of disbelief. Could it be that their quiet, unapproachable friend had a crush on Lily? Sheppard couldn't believe that Ronon would see her as anything more than a nuisance, like he did with all the other scientists. Although, it was obvious Lily could hold her own. John wondered if that was what had drawn Ronon to her. Teyla, however, knew that it was something entirely different about Lily that enticed Ronon.

You could see the haunted look in Lily's eyes if you paid enough attention. It was well known among those who had come to Atlantis from the SGC that Lily had been in several dangerous and life altering situations. Teyla surmised that Ronon was interested in Lily's ability to hide her pain, and continue to be positive and bright, most of the time at least. On missions Lily was very formal, Teyla suspected it was her way of performing her duties to the best of her abilities. Keep your feelings distant and the job can get done easier. Ronon acted on impulse and with little to no control over his emotions. He performed his duties based on his instincts, using his abilities to back up his decisions. Could it be that Ronon wanted to understand how Lily managed it all?

"I'm gonna go find Lily," John said as he finished his food and stood up from the table.

"I'll help you," Ronon said quickly standing up as well.

"You bored or something?" John asked.

"Got nothing to do today," he replied.

"The two of you and Lily are expected at the gym this afternoon. We are meant to be evaluating the defensive skills of the other scientists," Teyla reminded them.

"Right, well I guess we'll see you at lunch and then we can head to the gym after that," Sheppard told her.

"You wanna do what?!" Lily responded to Sheppard's question.

"It's not that far fetched, come on," John insisted.

"Far fetched, yes, insane, check…" Lily scoffed as she sat back down in her desk chair.

"It's great intel, we just have to find a way to put it to good use," John told her, looking to Ronon for back up.

"It could be useful," Ronon offered.

"Okay, even if when we deciphered all of the wraith info from the tech Ford and his buddies stole, we'd still have to do recon before we launched any kind of exploratory mission. Then there's the question of actually finding what you're looking for, I don't imagine that the wraith would just list a secret scientific research base in their records," Lily mused.

"But, they might mention something," Sheppard said.

"Okay, they might mention something that gave us a clue. But you're assuming that the research would be on weapons. It could be on anything," Lily explained.

"But we need to try," he urged.

"If we did find a facility that had the appropriate specs of what you wanna look for how would we get in?" Lily asked.

"That's what I want you to figure out. Decode some wraith intel, find a base for us to hit, and figure out how to do it without anyone getting killed," Sheppard said.

"Finding somewhere with information that we'd want, okay, I can do that. But planning a suicide mission, absolutely not," Lily told him.

"Okay, you find the place and we'll plan something together," Sheppard relented.

"Why didn't you ask McKay to do this?" Lily pondered.

"Because he's all doom and gloom. He'd think I was crazy," John told her smiling.

"I think you're crazy, but I guess I am too since I'm willing to help you," she sighed.

"Thanks Lil, I knew I could count on you. Oh by the way, Teyla said to remind you that we're all supposed to be in the gym this afternoon for the scientist pegasus galaxy boot camp," he told her.

"Right, right… I really don't wanna do that," Lily grimaced.

"Me neither," Ronon piped in from his spot on Lily's desk.

"I think I pulled my shoulder tackling Ronon this morning, maybe I should see Beckett," Lily said trying to hold back a smile.

"Oh no, you both are going to be there, I am not dealing with McKay and a bunch of whiney scientists alone," Sheppard said.

"You have Teyla," Ronon said.

"Right, but she scolds me when I laugh at him," John whined.

"Oh, don't complain… We'll be there," Lily told him laughing.

"Good, and I'll see you at lunch… Now I have to go finish the screenings for the new marines," John told them. "Ronon, why don't you help Lily for today."

"Help her with what?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," John replied with a smirk.

"Go away Sheppard," Lily scolded throwing a crumpled up paper ball at him.

"Alright, you kids have fun," Sheppard waved as he left.

"What do you need me to do?" Ronon asked.

"Nothing," Lily replied shrugging.

"But Sheppard said..." he trailed off.

"Come on! You can't see what he's doing?" Lily asked.

"No," Ronon replied.

"He's trying to get you laid," she declared.

"Get me what?" Ronon asked in confusion.

"I mean, you know, like get us together to, you know," Lily stuttered blushing.

"Oh," Ronon said. "You told him to leave."

"Because he was being annoying. I mean not that you aren't attractive and I wouldn't want to… But we couldn't… I mean I have work and you have a fan club vying for your attention everywhere you go and we probably wouldn't even I mean because I'm and, you're well…" Lily rambled awkwardly as Ronon approached her.

"I'm what?" he asked.

"You're like a hot commodity on Atlantis. I just figured you probably had, I don't know, other options, I guess," she said moving back towards the wall, not making eye contact.

"Other options?" he asked smirking.

"Like you know, women falling at your feet probably. I mean look at you, come on… Every woman's fantasy… I mean I of course wouldn't objectify someone like that, but then…" she trailed off realizing that he had her trapped against the wall and was looking at her with a predatory stare.

"You wouldn't?" he asked staring at her.

"I wouldn't what?" she replied in confusion as her gaze moved down to his lips.

"Want me?" he asked her stepping closer and caging her in with his arms.

"Wa- want… I mean… because, and then really…" she trailed off sighing as he pressed his lips against hers.

Ronon didn't know what had given him the assuredness to kiss Lily. He just really liked the way she blushed whenever her eyes wandered over his body. He could tell that she was interested in him, maybe only physically, but he would take the chance. She was beautiful, long curly dark brown hair, haunting grey-blue eyes that cut through a person, and an effortless figure. She didn't try to look nice, she was just rounded in all the right spots, and her smile lit up his day, unlike anyone had before. He wanted more than a tentative friendship. He liked her, and he wanted her.

Lily on the other hand, hadn't thought much about the prospect of kissing Ronon. She thought he was drop dead gorgeous of course, like all the other women on Atlantis, but she never thought he would settle for some kid from Earth who had almost zero experience. She loved teasing him, challenging him, and watching him get confused by what she said. He tried so hard to figure out what she meant, and she liked that kind of attention. All she could think about now though, were his lips working against hers softly and slowly.

"I don't…" Lily whispered once he had detached himself from her for both of them to gather some much needed air.

Ronon grinned and moved his hands slowly down her sides, latching onto her hips, and ducking his head down again to meet her lips with his. Where the first kiss had been slow and hesitant, this one was rough and eager. He nipped at her lips for entrance into her mouth but she denied him, smirking into their embrace. Ronon slid his hand under her shirt, brushing the bare skin at her hip, before he moved even closer to her. Lily released a gaspish moan, giving Ronon the chance to delve into the recesses of her mouth. She reached her hands up to settle on his chest, then stroked his cheeks, before she pulled away from him panting.

The large Satedan man simply moved his kisses down her cheek, onto her neck, and across her collarbone. Lily gripped his shirt at his chest, craning her neck to the side to allow him better access. After several minutes of the torture Lily began to question her actions. With all her self control she pressed her palms flat against his chest and pushed him away. Ronon backed away a few steps and cocked his head to the side to take in Lily's disheveled appearance. He took a step forward as if to continue his teasing onslaught but Lily held out a hand to stop him.

"I just, need a minute, just give me a minute," she told him, refusing to meet his stare.

"Okay," he said.

"Not that what just happened wasn't, well great, or anything, but, um… What just happened, actually?" she asked him, her brow furrowing in a mixture of apprehension and confusion.

"Me kissing you?" he confirmed.

"Yes, yes that is what I am referring to," she told him.

"I have to explain it?" he asked in confusion.

"No, I guess not, I mean I just kind of wondered what it meant… What you expect?" she said hesitantly.

"What?" Ronon replied narrowing his eyes.

"I mean do you just wanna have a one time thing, or does it mean something else, or are you proving a point…" Lily trailed off blushing.

"You're not like the other scientists," he said as if that clarified everything.

"So I don't annoy you?" she confirmed.

"Nope," he replied.

"So you decided to kiss me?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"So you wanna do more kissing?" she asked causing him to smirk and begin moving forward again. "In the future… I mean not right now. Because it's not just a one time thing?"

"Yes," Ronon said firmly.

"Oh, okay… um… I'm not very good at this," she told him.

"You seemed like you knew what you were doing," he said smirking.

"I meant more than just the physical thing or really anything beyond I guess kissing or flirting a little maybe, I haven't exactly had time for this kind of stuff in the past," she rambled in embarrassment.

"It's not hard," he told her.

"Sure, easy for you to say. Look, maybe we just take a minute to cool off and evaluate the situation," Lily suggested.

"Okay," he said moving to sit on the couch in her office.

"So you're going to sit there?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"And I'm just gonna sit at my desk and finish these translations," Lily told him sitting down.

"Okay."

"Totally relaxed… completely normal," Lily said.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

"No! I mean, no, you can stay, but you might be bored," she told him.

"I'll be fine," he said leaning back against the couch with his hands behind his head.

"Okay, cool…"

* * *

Atlantis Mess Hall

"We should leave for the gym now," Teyla said looking at her watch.

"You know what? I think I need more time for my food to settle," John told her leaning back in his chair.

"Wimp! You're afraid of a bunch of scientists," Lily teased him.

"If I remember correctly, you didn't wanna go either," Sheppard accused.

"Yeah well, I changed my mind. I think this is going to be loads of fun," Lily said smiling at Rodney.

"Oh sure, make fun of the irreplaceable genius that couldn't defend himself against a wall," McKay said.

"Rodney, I believe that you are underestimating yourself. You hold your own on our missions, you should be proud. The other scientists will look to you for guidance," Teyla told him.

"Really?" he asked shocked.

"Oh yeah, you didn't think you were on our team just for your brains, did you? You've gotten pretty handy with a P-90 buddy," Sheppard told him.

"Well I suppose I could give them somewhat of an idea of how things are in the field. I mean I'm sure the whole Ford thing and the enzyme would be a good example. I did take out two giant men…" Rodney trailed off when he noticed Lily and John trying to hold back laughter. "Oh, of course, poke fun at McKay."

"Come on Rodney, you'll be fine. You know the teachers, we'll go easy on you," Lily told him as she stood from her chair.

"Right, just remember, if you break me then someone else will have to save the day when Atlantis is under imminent threat of destruction," Rodney said as the rest of the group stood up.

"Don't worry McKay," Sheppard said, allowing Rodney a moment of relief. "If anything happens to Atlantis I'm sure Lily can take care of it."

"Oh great," Rodney mumbled before heading off to the gym.

The other four followed behind him laughing at his nervous actions. None of them planned on actually sparring with the scientists, they only wanted to teach them a couple self defense moves so that they wouldn't be completely helpless in the future. The could hear the apprehensive chatter as they approached the doors to the gym. Upon entering they found Rodney and about thirty other scientists that were cleared for off-world missions. These would be the group they had to teach.

"Good afternoon everyone," Sheppard said loudly to draw their attention. "I am Colonel Sheppard, this is Dr. Coutu, Ronon, and Teyla. We're going to show you how to keep yourselves safe."

"If you could all please find a partner to pair with for the duration of this exercise," Teyla asked them in a calming voice.

"So what'd you think?" John asked quietly turning his back to the bustling scientists.

"About?" Lily inquired.

"There's too many of them to get anything productive done in one room. We should probably split them up," he explained.

"I agree, there is another room across the hall that we could utilize," Teyla suggested.

"Alright then, it's settled. Teyla and I will stay in here and you two will take some across the hall," John instructed.

"If he hurts one of them I'm so not responsible for it," Lily said gesturing to Ronon, earning a glare from him.

"You'll be fine, we'll keep McKay, the rest should be a cakewalk," John insisted.

"Fine, but we only have to be here what? An hour? Then we're totally ditching them," Lily informed him.

"Fair," he said before turning to address the rest of the room. "Alright, I need this side of the room to follow Dr. Coutu and Ronon to the room across the hall. We're gonna split you up to have more room to move."

Roughly 10-15 people slowly traipsed across the hall with Lily and Ronon and began to gather in groups of two. Lily and Ronon stood at the front of the class by the mirrors, waiting for the commotion to settle down. Lily was nervous about addressing so many people at once, but she had the feeling they would be glad to deal with her rather than risk incurring the wrath of Ronon. The man was stood with his arms crossed, a threatening stare etched on his features as he looked over the group of scientists.

"Smile, this'll be fun," Lily told him.

"No it won't."

* * *

Atlantis Gym

Two grueling hours later and the scientists were slightly more equipped to handle themselves off world. Teyla had forced the others to double the allotted class time because she felt that the group of befuddled geniuses needed the extra practice. John and Lily were currently laying on the floor of the gym complaining about the whole ordeal. Teyla was cleaning up the various instruments that had been strewn about the room and Ronon was watching the two on the floor with a smug expression.

"I hate teaching," Lily groaned.

"Me too," Sheppard agreed.

"It wasn't that bad," Ronon piped up.

"I agree with Ronon, I think we will all find our efforts rewarding in the future when one of our students is better able to fend off an enemy," Teyla said.

"Right, right… You know I think I might take a nap here," Lily mused.

"Me too, you wanna cuddle?" Sheppard offered jokingly.

Ronon had been observing the two lay on the floor and whine with a light hearted feeling. Seeing Lily and Sheppard both so relaxed and carefree was something that rarely happened. Though he knew that Sheppard was only engaging in harmless flirting, like he did with all the other women on Atlantis, Ronon couldn't help but feel a surge of possessiveness. He decided not to react harshly, but instead to engage in his own form of playful flirting.

Lily was about to open her mouth to reply to Sheppard's silly suggestion when she felt herself being lifted off the floor and thrown over someone's shoulder. She instantly recognized the musky scent of her Satedan friend. She squirmed for a moment but realized that his grip was unrelenting.

"What gives?" Sheppard asked looking up at Ronon.

"You want me to carry you too?" Ronon asked.

"No, just wondering why you took away my prospective cuddle buddy," Sheppard replied smirking.

"I totally was going to refuse your offer!" Lily shouted from her upside down position.

"Buzz kill," Sheppard commented lazily.

"Ronon, perhaps you could release Lily so that she may walk on her own," Teyla suggested noticing Lily's failing attempts to break free.

"We'll go clean up our room," Ronon said as he turned to the door.

"Bye guys!" Lily told them waving as Ronon walked them across the hall.

"You gonna put me down now?" Lily asked as the doors closed behind them.

"Maybe," Ronon replied.

"As much as I'm loving this view, we really should clean up," Lily told him.

Ronon responded by hauling her off his shoulder and sliding her slowly down the front of his body, keeping a firm grip on her hips. Lily shook her head and began to pull away from the intimate embrace only to have Ronon halt her retreat. She looked up into his striking green eyes and smiled, lifting her hand to caress his cheek for a moment before pulling away. He huffed at the loss of contact but allowed her to begin cleaning up the mess they had made.

Ronon watched as she glided about the room organizing the equipment they had used and sorting leftover personal items to be returned to their owners. She worked in silence, only glancing once or twice at him before returning to her work. Ronon felt content to watch her flit from place to place in a calm sort of chaos. When she had finished cleaning the entire room she looked back at him.

"Thanks for the help," she told him placing her hands on her hips.

"You did fine without me," he replied.

"Well you didn't have to stare at me the whole time," Lily complained.

"It bothered you?" he asked moving towards her.

"No," she said.

"Hey! Who's ready for a movie and popcorn?" Sheppard said as he opened the doors with Teyla by his side.

"I am," Lily said moving around Ronon to join their friends.

"Well, we might as well get cleaned up and grab some dinner first. Meet at the mess in an hour," Sheppard suggested.

"See you there," Lily said, moving past him and Teyla to rush down the hall back to her quarters.

"Something happen I should know about?" John asked Ronon.

"Not yet," the Satedan replied cryptically before making his own exit.

"I think they might get together soon, yeah?" John said to Teyla as the too began to walk towards their rooms.

"You should not pressure them, they will follow their feelings whenever they choose to," Teyla told him.

"But you see that they do have the hots for each other, right?" the Colonel persisted.

"I do believe that their affection for one another is more than friendly, yes," Teyla admitted.

"I can't wait to see how this plays out."

* * *

Atlantis Mess Hall

"Anyone seen Lily?" Sheppard asked as he joined Teyla, Ronon, Rodney, and Carson at a table in the mess hall.

"She has yet to join us," Teyla replied.

"How long does it take to get cleaned up?" John remarked. "You haven't seen her Ronon?"

"Not since the gym," Ronon replied.

"You went to your room then came here?" John pressed.

"Yes," the Satedan replied narrowing his eyes at his friend.

"Okay," John allowed.

"If she does not join us for dinner then I will check on her before we reconvene for the movie," Teyla said.

"She probably fell asleep or got caught up in a translation," Sheppard said.

"Oh, I hope she's almost finished with the translations from the planet the botanists went to," McKay remarked.

"They jus' got back with those yesterday Rodney, she's not a computer you know," Beckett scolded.

"Right, right," Rodney grumbled in reply.

* * *

Lily's quarters

"Come in," Lily shouted to the door as she continued searching through her notes which had fallen all over the floor.

"Lily?" Teyla's voice called out as she stepped through the entryway.

"Teyla! Hey, sorry I missed dinner, I got caught up in something, what time is it?" Lily asked popping her head up from her spot on the floor.

"It is several hours past sundown, the others have already begun their movie night," Teyla informed her.

"Oh, well I kind of wanted to finish these translations tonight. I'll come next week," Lily told her as she continued gathering her notes.

"Are those the translations Dr. McKay requested from the pictures brought back by the team of botanists yesterday?" Teyla questioned.

"Um, yeah… just I know Rodney really wanted them asap," Lily muttered standing to face her friend.

"You are sure that nothing else is bothering you," Teyla asked her.

"Well, I mean, maybe something," Lily replied shyly.

"You do not have to be embarrassed, you may confide in me if you wish," Teyla offered sitting in a chair across from Lily's bed.

"Well, you might have noticed, but it's kind of about Ronon," Lily said sinking down onto her bed and folding her legs into a pretzel shape.

"Yes, I and Colonel Sheppard had noticed a difference in your behavior towards one another," Teyla said smiling.

"Well I mean I guess we kind of maybe started something? I dunno… He kissed me and I asked him what he meant by it and I sort of got the impression it wasn't just a one time thing. I'm a little nervous about it though because you know he's so, ugh, stoic, and I don't know what he really means because he doesn't explain things very well," Lily attempted to explain.

"Ronon is not a man of many words, he chooses instead to let his actions speak for him. If he has initiated any sort of physical relationship with you I assure that he does not intend it to be a passing moment. He has not attempted to seek out companionship since coming to Atlantis. I believe that he is not partial to a 'one time thing' as you would describe it," Teyla told her.

"So it wouldn't be crazy for me to think that he might be interested in something, right?" Lily asked apprehensively.

"No, it would not. You are a very attractive and intelligent woman, and a skilled warrior as well. I am sure that Ronon admires these traits in you," Teyla told her.

"Well, I guess," Lily said as blush began to creep onto her features.

"You are very self conscious when it comes to the possibility of a romantic entanglement," Teyla observed.

"Well, it's not as if I've really had time to have a relationship before. I pretty much finished school before I could even drive legally and then I went straight to the SGC. I mean I was pretty young when I joined the military run stargate program back on Earth. I was just a kid and everyone there saw me as that. I had my first kiss at a science conference two years ago. It was one of the first times I had been out and about by myself in a long time. I guess, even though I've been traveling to other planets for years and fighting different alien menaces, I've had a pretty sheltered life," Lily explained.

"If you are feeling pressured into anything I can speak with Ronon for you," Teyla offered.

"No, no, no… I just get nervous, you know? I mean hand to hand combat, that's fine. Kissing and flirting, that's uncharted territory for me," Lily giggled nervously.

"You should not worry about disappointing Ronon. He may be a warrior but he is also a very kind and patient man. He would not expect anything from you other than what you were willing to offer," Teyla told her.

"I know, I guess I just don't want to make a fool of myself," Lily said.

"You may think you have, but I assure you that Ronon will never see you as a fool," the wise Athosian woman said.

"Thanks Teyla, I'm really glad to have a friend to talk to here. Like a female friend," Lily told her smiling.

"Anytime that you need to talk I will listen," she replied.

"Right back atcha'," Lily said.

"Will you join us for movie night?" Teyla asked as she stood to leave.

"No, I really do want to get a head start on these translations, plus I have a little side project Sheppard has started me on," Lily said standing as well.

"You should not let you work consume you so entirely," Teyla said.

"Ah, translating things and solving puzzles are my life. I love what I do. Plus, the movie Sheppard picked out is a little too gruesome for me," Lily told her friend, thinking of Teyla's reaction to seeing the first installment of the Saw movies.

"Very well, I will see you tomorrow," Teyla said turning to leave.

"Bye," Lily told her before closing her door and setting to work on all the translations Rodney and John had supplied her with.

Every day life on Atlantis was always exciting and extremely busy. Lily loved always having something to do, even if she wasn't going off world as much. She had a plethora of translations waiting for her in her office, but the two most important jobs were the ruins found by the botanists and the intel collected on the wraith from Ford. Lily spent the rest of the night, into the wee hours of the morning, raking over both sets of language until she had at least completed the translation for Rodney. It would take at least another week to fully delve into all the information in the wraith intel. She only hoped that she would be able to find what Sheppard was looking for.


	5. Chapter 5

_*****So here is the fifth chapter! I was in the middle of writing it when I realised that I might need to cut it into two parts. I checked the word count and decided to stop and post what I had already. So chapter six will be the conclusion to this and will be posted sometime today or tomorrow. As always thanks to whoever is reading this! You're awesome! Rate or review if you want to. :D*****_

**_***Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely close to anything affiliated with the Stargate franchise. This is merely a work of fiction based on the unbelievably awesome movie, and series. There will be SPOILERS throughout the fic so don't read if you haven't seen any of the series. The only thing I lay claim to is my OC and some plot.***_**

**Chapter 5: Confusion**

* * *

Briefing Room

Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir had gathered the remainder of SGA alpha as well as Dr. Zelenka, Dr. Beckett, and Major Lorne in order to brief them on a proposed mission. It had been nearly two weeks since Colonel Sheppard had requested Lily's help in deciphering the stolen wraith information recovered from Ford's cave. Lily, with the help of a reluctant Rodney and frazzled Dr. Zelenka, had managed to uncover mentions of a secret scientific research facility maintained by the wraith for many centuries. It seemed to be an important outpost frequented by many of the different Queens and hives.

Lily and Sheppard had presented the information to Dr. Weir in the hopes of beginning recon on the facility. While Dr. Weir had been hesitant to launch a mission that could end in disappointment or danger, she couldn't deny the possible benefits of the mission. She had allowed a malp to be sent to the planet. The readings had been inconclusive, showing no activity or signs of life anywhere near the gate but displaying energy readings of some magnitude. Sheppard and Lily had taken a cloaked jumper through the gate to investigate and found that there seemed to be an abandoned wraith facility but there were no signs of life.

"As you are all aware, Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Coutu have found what seems to be an abandoned wraith outpost. We believe that this outpost could have records detailing scientific research done by the wraith. Hopefully some information on advanced weaponry or direct intel about their technological abilities," Dr. Weir explained as she began the meeting.

"If we could get our hands on any of that we'd be a step ahead in fighting the wraith," Sheppard mentioned.

"Yes, but we aren't sure what exactly we'll find upon entering the facility. I've given Sheppard and his team, including Dr. Coutu, the go ahead to mount a surveillance mission around the outskirts of the facility. Dr. McKay will man the jumper and return to the gate before anyone enters the facility, at which time Major Lorne and several marines will join the search efforts. If there's any signs of hostile forces you are all to retreat immediately without hesitation," Dr. Weir informed them.

"We're just going to walk right into a wraith stronghold?" Rodney questioned.

"Well, it's not exactly a stronghold and it really does seem like it's deserted," Lily told him.

"Still, they could be cloaking their life signs or hiding underground, or I dunno, maybe they were out for lunch when you visited," McKay mused.

"Or, they left a while ago for some reason or another. That's what we're gonna find out," John told him.

"Before leaving the jumper it is possible that I could attempt to sense any wraith presence near our location," Teyla offered.

"That's a great idea Teyla. If you feel even the slightest presence I want you guys to return," Weir replied.

"What if after all our feeble precautions the wraith still get the drop on us, hmm?" Rodney asked.

"Then we kill them," Ronon told him.

"Oh great, we kill an entire facility of wraith," McKay sighed.

"Rodney, you won't even be leaving the jumper until we inspect the ground around the place. Then we'll have Lorne and some marine enforcements. There's no way anything could go wrong, this is one of the most carefully planned missions I've ever gone on," Lily attempted to reassure the worried scientist.

"Aye, I'm sure you'll only find something new and interesting to tinker with," Beckett commented with a smile.

"Right," the pessimistic scientist replied in defeat.

* * *

Atlantis Gateroom

"Good luck, and try not to get into anymore trouble than usual," Dr. Weir said through her radio to the crew of the puddle jumper preparing to leave through the gate.

"Aw, don't worry, we always come back in one piece," Sheppard replied.

"More or less," McKay mentioned grimly.

"We'll check in within the hour, Sheppard out," he informed Dr. Weir.

"Here goes nothing," Lily said as they moved through the gate and soared across the quiet, still planet.

"I'm gonna land us about half a mile away from the front building," Sheppard said.

"That should be good, we should split up and cover more ground before we check back in," Lily suggested.

"Negative, we stick together until we confirm that the base is uninhabited," Sheppard replied.

"Okay, don't complain if we miss something, we only have an hour to cover everything before we check back in," Lily told him.

"I'm sure we'll manage. McKay, I want you doing sweeps from the air," Sheppard told him.

"As long as I get to stay in the jumper," the grumpy scientists responded.

"I do not believe that Dr. Weir would have allowed us to venture to this planet if she thought there was an immediate threat to our well being," Teyla said attempting to ease Rodney's worries.

"That she knows of," Rodney replied.

"Good thing you'll be high up in the sky and safe from any creepy crawlies," Lily told him.

"Yes, well, if another ship were to detect the jumper's presence they could easily shoot me out of the sky," McKay mused.

"Rodney, keep the cloak on and report in every ten minutes, okay?" Sheppard said as he touched the jumper down in a clearing, opening the back hatch. "Teyla you sense anything?"

"No, I am not sensing any form of wraith presence nearby," she told him.

"Good, You gonna be okay McKay?" Sheppard asked as he and the others strapped on their remaining gear.

"Sure, sure. Try not to get killed, I don't wanna get blamed when I have to report back to Elizabeth," he told them as they prepared to leave the jumper.

"We'll be fine Rodney, stop with all the doom and gloom," Sheppard told him as he and the others stepped out onto the planet.

"The first building is ahead, right past the break in the tree line," Lily told the others.

"Let's check it out," Sheppard said as they set off to approach the facility.

The four team members walked in silence, slowly taking in their surroundings and keeping a watchful eye gazed in all directions. The mood was tense, the possibility of finding the facility inhabited by wraith was a thought present in each of their minds. As they came upon the first building McKay called over the radio for his first check in. He reported no further signs of life and told them he was heading into orbit around the planet to do some more extensive readings.

The first building came into their sight line a few minutes later. It seemed derelict and quiet, but had a strange feeling accompanying it. They patrolled the perimeter of the building, looking inside the windows for any signs of activity. The building itself was not of wraith design, instead it looked like a metal warehouse that had been repurposed for the wraith's use. They could see signs of wraith tech littering the crevices of the building though, which meant that the ominous pegasus galaxy villains had been here for sure.

The next few buildings were completely abandoned as the first had been, each one looking a little more wraith like as they ventured further into the maze of buildings. Rodney had radioed them from orbit and informed them that he had pinpointed the elevated energy readings. He directed them towards the location, where the ground team found a cave with a completely wraith like door wide open.

"Rodney, we're gonna head inside. We might lose radio contact though, so head back to the gate and be ready to dial Atlantis for your check in with Weir," Sheppard instructed.

"Try not to get killed or blow anything up," Rodney replied.

"No promises," Sheppard replied as he motioned for Ronon to take point entering the cave.

After only twenty or so feet of walking into the cave Ronon and Sheppard had moved further along a long passageway while Teyla and Lily were monitoring two off shooting hallways. The two men were returning from their short jaunt down the hallway when Lily let out a squeal of surprise, before she called for the others to join her.

"You okay?" Sheppard asked as he and the others approached.

"Yeah, just got surprised for a minute," she replied before gesturing for him to follow her around the corner.

"What is it?" Teyla asked.

"I think it's safe to say that we're probably alone.

"Is that…?" Sheppard trailed off as he finally saw what had startled Lily.

"Good news or bad omen? I can't decide," she replied.

"We should inform Rodney so that he can tell Dr. Weir when he contacts her," Teyla suggested.

"Alright, Ronon and I will continue the sweep, you two head back to the entrance and contact McKay, and wait for him to meet up. Tell them to send Beckett too. He can check all this out," Sheppard ordered.

Teyla and Lily headed back to the mouth of the cave to contact Rodney through the radio. Both women were a bit unnerved at their most recent discovery, and were eager to have more information on what had transpired on the planet. As they stepped back out into the light of day Lily let out a sigh of relief. She did not enjoy being isolated among the dark hallways of the underground wraith facility. Though they had only ventured a short ways inside, the dimly lit surroundings were enough to put her on edge.

"Dr. McKay this is Teyla, come in," Teyla called through her earpiece.

"Go for McKay, find anything interesting," he replied.

"If you call a bunch of dead wraith interesting, then yeah," Lily told him.

"What?!" McKay exclaimed.

"Tell Weir the planet is definitely abandoned but it looks like it wasn't by choice," Lily said.

"Colonel Sheppard has also requested that Dr. Beckett be sent with Major Lorne's team in order to ascertain the cause of the wraith's demise," Teyla informed him.

"Then touch down near our position and we'll head back in, make sure you send them the coordinates of the cave too," Lily instructed.

"Anything else?" Rodney asked sarcastically.

"That is all Dr. McKay," Teyla responded calmly.

"I guess now we wait. What do you think they're finding in their?" Lily asked Teyla.

"I cannot imagine that it is anything pleasant."

* * *

Wraith Facility, Underground bunker, Control room

"McKay?" Sheppard asked as he, Ronon, and Teyla returned from a perimeter sweep.

"There's nothing wrong with any of the controls or hardware. All the tech is still functioning perfectly fine," Rodney told him from his position on the floor, hand stuck inside a wraith control panel.

"So why is everyone dead?" Sheppard questioned.

"Not my area of expertise. All I can tell you is that about four months ago there was a spike in anomalous energy readings detected by the system. The base shutdown and restarted. I'll need more time to figure anything useful out," McKay replied.

"Coutu, Lorne, come in," Sheppard called through his radio.

"Yes sir," Lorne replied.

"Beckett found anything useful?"

"Aye, I know how these wraith died," the doctor replied through the radio.

"Okay, finish up whatever you're doing and report back to the control room," the Colonel ordered.

"Should we recall the marines as well?" Teyla asked.

"No, they can keep sweeping the base, maybe they'll find something that can tell us why this happened," John replied.

"Ah, Lily come help me with this," McKay demanded as soon as the woman stepped into the room, followed closely by Lorne and Beckett.

"Sure."

"So Doc, what did you find out?" Sheppard asked.

"It seems that the wraith's body functions have been completely shut down, one by one in some form of order I'd expect. It's pretty much like their brains slowly shut off all the important things that was keeping 'em alive. There's a disease similar to this on Earth, called supranuclear palsy, basically the brain slowly starts to shut off the primary functions and as a result the body decays in different ways," Carson attempted to explain.

"Simplify it for me Doc," Sheppard requested.

"Aye I can do that. I cannae tell ye why, but it seems these wraith's brains started dying. It might have started with loss of motor function, or being able to walk and move different limbs, then maybe their vision went. It affects everyone differently," the doctor said.

"So we don't know why or how this happened? If it's a disease is it possible we could have been infected?" Sheppard questioned.

"Well it's not that kind of ailment, no, it's likely something genetic," Beckett replied.

"How could something that was genetic kill a large group of wraith all at once?" Teyla asked.

"Well it couldn't. The chances that they would 'ave all had the same disease is very unlikely," Carson said.

"Come on doc, just tell me if we're in danger here?" Sheppard implored.

"I don't know, I'm a medical doctor and I've never seen anythin' like this," Carson responded in exasperation.

"I think what Dr. Beckett is trying to say is something killed these wraith. They way they died can't just be a coincidence. It's not some disease they all had, but it's not a virus or infection either. I mean, I guess it could be, but it would be very unlikely. Something that shuts down brain functions like this would have had to be genetic. But the rate of decay is too rapid and in too many subjects in an isolated area. Someone or something killed these wraith and we really can't tell you how," Lily explained.

"Give me a bit and I might be able to shed some light on what happened here," Rodney piped in.

"Is it possible to determine if there is the possibility of infection if we remain here?" Teyla questioned.

"Do you really think I'd still be here if I thought we were all going to die," McKay said sarcastically.

"He's got a point," Ronon said.

"So we search the base for more info, but for now we're not going to die?" Sheppard clarified.

"No, we're not going to die. Go traipse about the place and leave me in peace," Rodney said waving them away.

"Okay, Beckett and Lily you stay here, Teyla and I will go that way, Lorne and Ronon, you go that way," Sheppard instructed pointing down the different hallways.

"Wait a minute," Rodney said as he rose from the floor.

"What, McKay?" John asked.

"Lily should be on a sweep team, she can link the data pad in with any useful systems and send the info back to me," Rodney suggested tapping some buttons on his datapad before handing it to Lily.

"Okay, Lorne you stay here and babysit then," the Colonel ordered.

"Yes sir," the Major replied taking up position near the two doctors.

"Alright, head out," Sheppard said.

Teyla followed the Colonel down the left section of the hallway, giving Lily a knowing smile as she trailed past Ronon. Lily was hesitant to be alone with Ronon for an extended period of time. She had avoided him since she didn't show up at movie night. She had claimed to be focusing on the translations and planning of their current mission. Ronon had accepted her fierce dedication to her work and spent his time training the marines of Atlantis. he had grown antsy the last few days and though her desired to know of her intentions and feelings, he would not say anything until she approached him. Both were equally stubborn.

The three sweep teams wandered about the facility until each team were deeply immersed in the different sections they had ventured to. Teyla and Colonel Sheppard had not found anything but hallways, empty cocoons, more dead wraith, and holding cells. The marines had reported unusual energy readings in the center of the facility, but had not reported back with a cause as of yet. Ronon and Lily had found a rather large lab filled with dead wraith and, after reporting to Sheppard, had begun inspecting the room.

Ronon had just finished moving all of the dead wraith out into the hallway. Though Lily had not requested this, he could sense her apprehension at being surrounded by their lifeless bodies. Lily had taken up position at a work terminal at the back of the room and had been tinkering with the wraith tech, attempting to delve further into the systems. Ronon now stood just inside the doorway watching the halls silently.

"Sheppard to Ronon," came the Colonel's voice through the radio.

"Go ahead," he replied.

"Be on alert, we've just found the marines and they appear to have been shot. They're dead," Sheppard told him.

"What?!" came McKay's startled voice over the radio.

"It's P-90 fire," Sheppard said in confusion.

"How is that possible?" Ronon asked.

"It looks as though they shot each other," Teyla reported.

"McKay, I need answers, now," John ordered.

"I'm looking, I'm looking… Lily, have you found anything?" McKay asked.

"Negative, I'm still trying to sort through the system here," she replied.

"Okay, everyone head back to the control room, we're sticking together until we figure out what the hell is going on," Sheppard said.

In the lab that Ronon and Lily were in, the large Satedan began shifting nervously on his feet. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't say what. There was a buzzing in his ears that wouldn't stop, but he assumed it was his dislike of being in the wraith facility and not understanding any of the technical or medical explanations the others had offered. He turned to Lily expecting to find her packing her things to leave, but she was still deeply immersed in the wraith control panel in front of her.

"We need to meet back up with the others," he told her.

"Just a minute," she requested.

"Sheppard ordered us to return to the control room," Ronon informed her blandly.

"I need to figure this out, go if you want," Lily replied dismissively.

"And leave you?" he questioned skeptically.

"I'll be right behind you in a minute," she insisted.

"No," he said as he reached out to grab her arm and drag her away.

The ringing in Ronon's ear intensified and suddenly felt a sharp pain explode in his head. He fell to the floor on one knee gripping his temple in agony. Lily spun around at the sound of his miserable groan, sinking to the floor in front of him and reaching up to grip his face. Ronon opened his eyes to stare at her with a confused gaze. Lily stroked his cheeks as her eyes flitted over his person inspecting him for injuries.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Head, hurts," he replied through gritted teeth.

"Can you stand?" Lily asked moving to help him up.

"No," he huffed as the pan increased causing him to cry out and collapse on the floor.

"John, something's wrong with Ronon, he's collapsed, I don't know…" Lily called through her radio before being interrupted by a response.

"Teyla is down too, I'll carry her back to the others and then come help you," Sheppard replied.

"Okay, hurry," Lily stressed as she stroked Ronon's forehead as he writhed in pain.

Ten minutes later found Ronon passed out on the floor of the lab while Lily fervently searched through the endless amount of nonsensical readings recorded by the wraith. She was doing a botched job of translating everything in a hurry and was only becoming more panicked as she attempted to sort through the information. She had received a radio call from Rodney a few moments earlier informing her that he was going to attempt to run a diagnostic from the control room. Colonel Sheppard was still attempting to transport Teyla from within the bowels of the facility back to the control room so that Dr. Beckett could attend to her. She too had succumb to sleep.

"Okay, here goes nothing," McKay informed them via radio.

Lily looked up from the console she was trifling through in time to see the doors of the lab slam shut, then dim significantly, and all the consoles turn off. She cursed and leaned down to check Ronon's pulse before taking his gun and going to inspect the door. She fiddled with the controls for a moment before backing away slightly and blasting the panel with the Satedan weapon. When nothing happened she huffed in frustration.

"McKay? What the hell did you do?" she asked angrily.

"I don't know… It should have worked but it seems as though instead of running a diagnostic it shut off all the main rooms. Are you locked in?" he replied.

"Yeah, and all the controls turned off. We barely have light in here," Lily told him.

"Sheppard and Teyla are stuck out in the hallways. I'm gonna see if I can fix it," he informed her.

"Sheppard, how's Teyla?" Lily asked.

"She's waking up, she seems better off than before, Ronon?" he replied.

Lily turned to check on Ronon so she could respond to the Colonel only to find that he had risen from his spot on the floor and was standing right behind her. She let out a gasp, stumbling for a moment before reaching out to steady herself with his arm. Ronon cocked his head to the side as he looked at her strangely. Lily narrowed her eyes as she studied him. After a moment of silent contemplation Ronon suddenly reached up grabbing her shoulders and slammed her into the wall.

"What the hell?!" she exclaimed as he glared at her.

"Lily! What's going on?" Sheppard shouted in her ear.

"Ronon's lost it," she replied reaching out to hit the man in question. "Let me go!"

"You took my gun," he said harshly, dropping her in a heap on the ground and ripping the weapon out of her hand.

"No need to have a hissy fit about it," she said standing up and rubbing her shoulders.

"Something's wrong, Lily. Teyla just punched me and then ran off. Be careful," Sheppard warned.

"You too," Lily replied turning her radio off and slowly approaching Ronon. "You okay?"

"Where am I?" he asked gruffly pacing about the room.

"You don't remember?" she responded.

"Would I ask if I did?" Ronon sneered.

"Ronon," Lily called out. "Ronon. Stop pacing, dammit!"

"Who are you?" he asked moving to stand directly in front of her.

"Are you serious?" she asked bewildered.

He gave her a look that told her he was completely serious. She sighed and hoped that the sudden illness and the low lighting was the cause of his distress, but she knew it was something else entirely. Lily hesitantly reached her hand up to touch his face. He grabbed her wrist before she could finish the motion and Lily forced herself to push down the sudden urge to wrench herself from his grip. She closed her eyes and continued her hand's movement towards his face. He kept his grip on her wrist but didn't stop her.

Lily reached his beard and slowly stroked upwards until she found his cheek. In the darkness she let her hands guide her actions as she raised her other arm to place a hand on Ronon's neck. The gesture was intimate and gentle, causing the confused Satedan to falter in his harsh actions. He allowed Lily to caress his face, dropping both arms at his side, closing his eyes. When Lily felt his resolve fading she opened her eyes and took in the sight of his subdued form in the dim glow of the wraith lab.

"You know who I am," she whispered moving up on her tiptoes to level herself with his towering frame.

"Lily," he said softly opening his eyes to look at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"What's going on?" he responded.

"I don't know, but you were hurting and you passed out. When you woke up you were angry and confused," she told him.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't remember," he told her moving his hands to her hips.

"You remember now though?" she inquired sliding her hands down his neck to his chest.

He answered by dipping his head down to capture her lips in his own. Lily sighed at the softness of his touch and tilted her head to obtain a better angle in their embrace. Ronon pushed her slowly back until he had pressed her gently against the wall, continuing their kiss. As his hands travelled up her sides and to her neck he became more heated in his ministrations. Lily moaned at the feel of his rough kisses and he took the opportunity to push deeper into her mouth.

"Maybe this isn't the time for this," Lily panted after breaking away from Ronon's lips.

"Why not?" he asked smiling and moving his lips down to her neck, sucking on her tender spot.

Lily moved her hands to grip his shoulders as Ronon's slid back down to her hips pushing her further into the wall as his body pressed into hers. She gasped when she felt him nip at the skin on her neck. He smirked into her skin and continued his teasing onslaught, sliding his hands under her shirt to the small of her back.

"Ronon," she moaned. "We need to focus on getting out of here."

He didn't respond, instead he moved her jacket and shirt to the side of her shoulder as he trailed his lips down to her collarbone, leaving red marks from his soft biting as he went. Lily dropped her head back against the wall feeling helpless as she enjoyed his attention. Her mind was screaming at her to push him away and continue trying to escape their sudden unexpected confinement. Her body though, held onto the man in front of her while he immersed her in a pleasure she had yet to experience in her life.

Ronon moved his lips back up the trail of marks he had made until he reached her lips. He hovered over them for a moment, lifting his hand to cup her cheek. Lily opened her eyes to meet his intense gaze, parting her lips as she breathed in shakily. Ronon smirked at her and something seemed off about it. Before Lily had a chance to protest Ronon had brought his lips forward to attack her own in a rough, possessive kiss. Lily fought for control, sliding her hands to his chest as if to push him away. Ronon smirked into the kiss, biting down on her bottom lip and sucking it into his mouth causing Lily to gasp. He then gripped both of her wrists at his chest and hauled them up over her head, pressing his body harder against her.

"Stop," Lily whimpered moving her head to the side. "We need to focus."

"I am focused," he declared.

"Let me go, Ronon," she demanded.

"Why?" he asked narrowing his eyes at her.

"We need to figure a way out of here, so we can get back to the others and help them," she told him.

"You want to get away from me, back to Sheppard," he accused.

"No. What the hell is wrong with you? I want to not be trapped in a wraith science lab," Lily countered pushing against him and wrenching her arms from his grip.

"Why have you been avoiding me then?" he asked caging her against the wall with his arms.

"I haven't been avoiding you, I've been busy trying to find this place. Now that we're here, I'd really like to leave," she informed him.

"Fine," he said pushing off the wall and moving to the door.

"Ronon, are you sure you're okay? You seem off," Lily observed.

"I don't know," he replied gripping at his head.

"Hey, we'll get out of here. And I haven't been avoiding you, at least not on purpose. I quite enjoy your company if you haven't noticed," she told him.

"I know, I just have this ringing in my ears, it's confusing me," Ronon said as he slumped down against the door.

"Ringing in your ears? For how long?" Lily asked crouching down to look him over.

"A little bit after we found this place," he replied.

"Look, McKay will open the doors, we'll get you to Beckett and we'll get out of here," Lily stated confidently.

"I'm just… confused…" he mumbled leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Ronon?" Lily was growing concerned with his behavior, she reached out to check his pulse when he lunged at her.

Ronon tackled Lily to the ground pinning her arms above her and holding her legs in place with his own. His face wore an expression with a mixture of confusion and anger. His eyes held vulnerability as he stared her down questioningly. Lily panted at the sudden movement, startled by his unstable actions. As he loosened his hold for a moment she used her legs to roll him under her as she ripped his gun from his belt, flicked the setting to stun, and shot him.

"Sheppard?" she called through her radio.

"What the hell is going on I've been trying to reach you," he scolded.

"I just had to stun Ronon, he's not himself," Lily reported.

"Tell me about it, neither is Teyla. It took three wraith stunner shots to put her down," John informed her.

"Where are you now?" she inquired.

"I tied Teyla up and I'm dragging her back in the direction of the control room now. You still stuck in that lab?" he responded.

"Yeah, and I don't have anything to tie Rambo up with," Lily quipped nervously.

"Keep his gun aimed at him and let McKay figure out how to fix this. If the big guy isn't himself and you let your guard down…" he trailed off at the implication.

"I know, just get McKay to hurry," Lily replied.

An hour later found Lily sitting with her back to the door, Ronon's gun aimed at his now awake figure as the two sat in complete silence. McKay had restored the lights to the facility but not the controls. He assured Lily and Colonel Sheppard that he would have the problem fixed soon. As he had been working on the technical problems, Dr. Beckett and Major Lorne had discovered the truth behind the wraith's demise.

The wraith had come upon this site, which had turned out to be a sort of storage site for the ancients during their war with the wraith. The decrepit buildings surrounding the underground wraith facility had once been filled with the supplies traded from other worlds by the ancients. In one building the wraith had found a catalog of experiments the ancients had been conducting. Four months ago one of the 10,000 year old containers had been opened and an experimental contagion was released. It appeared to target only those without the ancient gene, hence why Ronon, Teyla and the marines had been the only ones affected. Dr. Beckett had discovered that the contagion was meant to erase the infected subject's memory. The effect on the wraith had been entirely different due to their altered biology. It seemed that at the most it caused hostility and confusion in humans.

Dr. Beckett had assured Colonel Sheppard and Lily that the contagion was not strong enough to cause any lasting damage. He theorized that the effects were only temporary and that the marines had shot each other due to paranoia. He advised that Ronon and Teyla be kept subdued in case their reactions became more violent. He believed that the contagion would run it's course in less than an hour. It had been some time past his projected timeline and Lily was getting nervous. While Ronon was silent and still his eyes flickered with emotion. One moment he seemed to be furiously plotting an attack to regain control of the situation, while other times he would grip his head and gaze at her in confusion.

"Alright, I think I can open the doors now," Rodney informed everyone.

"Lily, you think you should put tall dark and angry down for a nap before we move ahead with that plan?" Sheppard asked.

"No, he's fine," Lily replied looking into Ronon's green orbs as he silently begged her not to stun him again. "You're not gonna attack me again are you?"

"No," he replied softly.

"I told you McKay would get us outta here," she told him as she moved to stand up and face the door.

"Can I have my gun back?" he asked approaching her.

"I think I should hang onto it for a bit," Lily said turning to face him.

"I won't hurt you," he said.

"You don't think you will," she pointed out.

"If I wanted to hurt you I would have by now. My gun isn't the only weapon I carry," he told her quirking an eyebrow.

"How do I know you aren't just saying that so you can get your gun, stun me, and run off," she wondered.

"You have to trust me. Do you trust me Lily?" he asked stepping closer to her.

Lily looked into his eyes for a moment, contemplating his current behavior. Ronon seemed to have shaken himself from the stupor the contagion had temporarily put him in. She was hesitant to return his gun, mostly because she had no way of subduing him without brute force. His gun was an easy way to lay him out without causing him any permanent damage. Ronon peered down at her with a soft, teasing expression. He could still hear the ringing in his ears, and was murky on what had occurred in the last few hours, but he knew he didn't want to hurt Lily.

"I trust you," she told him smiling as she handed him his gun back.

"Good," he told her, leaning down to capture her lips in a quick but heated kiss.

"You have got to stop doing that," she told him.

"Kissing you?" he asked smirking.

"Distracting me on missions," she said turning back to face the door.

"Think of that as an apology," he said.

"For what?" she asked with a laugh.

"This," he said, raising his gun and stunning her just as the doors opened and the power returned to the controls in the room.

Ronon stepped out of the room, raising his gun to check both directions the hallway led. He stepped back into the lab and picked Lily up slinging her over his shoulder. He didn't know why but he felt like protecting her was important, but he knew she wouldn't listen to him. He wouldn't let the stubbornness of a woman he cared for stop him from protecting her again. He held tightly onto Lily with one arm while he used his other to point his gun forward as he ran off down the hallways, searching for an exit. He wouldn't let anything stand in his way, wraith or not.


	6. Chapter 6

_***** Hello! I finally managed to go over the whole story and fix a few things and finish the sixth chapter. I am so sorry for the long hiatus. There are really only very minor changes in the other chapters. You don't have to reread if you don't want to. Anyways, for anyone who is ready this story and is glad that I posted a new chapter you should thank calwitch. Without calwitch I would have stopped writing this story. The support and encouragement that calwitch gave me was what I needed to get re-inspired and continue. So here's the next installment of Ronon and Lily's journey. I hope you enjoy it! *****_

**_***Disclaimer: I do not own anything remotely close to anything affiliated with the Stargate franchise. This is merely a work of fiction based on the unbelievably awesome movie, and series. There will be SPOILERS throughout the fic so don't read if you haven't seen any of the series. The only thing I lay claim to is my OC and some plot.***_**

**Chapter 6:**

* * *

Wraith Base, Control Room

"Dr. Coutu, come in. Lily, please respond," Sheppard called through his radio.

"Maybe she's busy," Rodney offered with a worried expression on his face.

"Obviously whatever this is hasn't worn off yet. She's out there with a psycho version of Ronon in a wraith facility… We have to find her," Sheppard said as he paced the room.

"Lorne, you take Beckett and Teyla back to Atlantis and bring back whatever military personnel has the gene and is on base," Sheppard instructed.

"Yes sir, come on Doc," the Major said to Beckett as he lifted Teyla up and began walking outside.

"I'm staying here because…" Rodney trailed off.

"Because Lily needs us to find her and you're gonna figure out how," Sheppard informed him.

"Okay," McKay replied turning back to the control console and tapping away.

"Okay?" Sheppard hesitated. "That's it? No complaining?"

"We both know that I'm smart enough to manipulate the internal sensors enough to locate them and to be honest I'd rather not waste the time talking about that when I happen to agree with you for once about the urgent need to rescue Lily from the drugged up caveman that you sent her off with," Rodney replied.

"I sent her off with? You're the one who wanted her to join the sweep teams," John countered.

"You could have sent her with Teyla instead. But you're trying to set her up with Ronon because he so obviously needs the help with finding love," McKay accused.

"You're jealous. Of Ronon," Sheppard realised.

"No I'm not. I just think that someone of Lily's higher status could do better than a military grunt with poor hygiene habits," Rodney responded in a bored tone.

"This would be hilarious if I wasn't concerned for both Lily and Ronon's well being at the moment," John said as he watched Rodney work.

"Ah-ha! Found them," Rodney exclaimed.

"Where?"

"The same room the marines reported finding the energy readings, which if I'm correct is the epicenter of the contagion's spread," McKay explained.

"That's not good," John said gesturing for McKay to follow him out of the room.

"No, it's not."

Lily groaned as she began to wake from the unexpected stunner blast. Her head felt heavy and she was pissed that she had allowed Ronon to trick her. As she rolled over from her heap on the floor she realized that she was bound. Her legs and arms were both secured together with zip-ties. She sat up and scooted backwards into the wall scanning the room she seemed to be in. While her eyes couldn't find Ronon anywhere she took in the state of the room, dead wraith everywhere and the bodies of the two marines. They looked to be in some type of control room or more extensive lab.

"You're awake," came Ronon's voice as he stepped back into the room.

"Why the hell did you tie me up?" Lily asked him angrily.

"So you couldn't run," he replied.

"Yeah well," Lily began her response before realizing that all her hidden knives had been removed from her person too. "You frisked me?!"

"I didn't want you to hurt yourself," Ronon told her.

"I wouldn't hurt myself, I know how to use a knife. I don't hide them because it's fashionable," she scolded.

"You, use a knife?" Ronon scoffed with a smile.

"You've seen what I can do with a knife," Lily attempted to point out, only receiving a mild laugh from her captor.

"I know you want to fight the wraith but I've been doing it for a long time and you have to listen to what I tell you to do if we're going to get out of this alive," Ronon told her seriously.

"I've fought my share of bad guys too, Ronon," she told him.

"You're not a killer, you're a healer, but I promised to always keep you safe. This time I won't let even you stand in my way," Ronon declared fiercely, moving forward and crouching down so he was eye level with Lily.

"Ronon, you're not making any sense," she replied in confusion.

"I lost you once, I won't lose you again," he whispered reaching out a hand to caress her cheek.

"You never lost me Ronon, you're confused, there's something messing with your head. Please, you have to let me go so I can help you," Lily begged.

"I've never been more clear-headed," he told her standing up and moving to the door.

"Ronon, who am I?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"What's my name? What am I to you?" Lily knew that the contagion had confused him, but she feared he had lost all grip on reality at this point.

"Melena, come on, you're worrying me," the Satedan said, confirming Lily's suspicions.

"Who is after us?" she asked.

"The wraith, but I'm going to kill every last one of them," he told her.

"But what about the other soldiers, the ones that were helping us, won't they be looking for us?"

"What soldiers?"

"Our friends, they came here to help us. You have to let them help us or things might be worse for me," Lily insisted.

"I won't let anyone hurt you," Ronon assured her.

"But the soldiers need our help too. They might be wounded or lost, we should find them," she attempted to persuade him.

"I won't let you risk your life for someone else, not again," he told her.

"You're right, you were always right, and I'm so glad you're here now. But the soldiers look to you for leadership, you can't leave your men behind," Lily tried again causing a look of consternation to fall over Ronon's face as he contemplated his objectives.

"I can't leave you defenseless," Ronon said.

"Untie me and lend me a gun, I will stay behind you and shoot anything that moves," Lily implored.

"You, with a gun," he laughed before moving towards her to release her bonds.

"I will stay close to you then, you will protect me," she said softly as her hands were released.

"Always," Ronon whispered staring into her eyes with such a deeply committed look that it caused Lily to shiver.

Lily took a moment to stare into Ronon's intense gaze before she sighed and cast her eyes to the side. She knew logically that the contagion was causing Ronon to be confused and mistake her for someone else. What bothered her was that she had no idea who it could be. It suddenly dawned on Lily that she really didn't know much about Ronon's previous life. He could have had a family on Sateda, she just didn't know. It made what she had to do that much harder.

Ronon stood and turned away from Lily to resume his observations of the room they were in. Lily stood quietly, quickly, and approached Ronon from behind. He didn't perceive her as a threat so he kept his back turned, his guard down as she neared. Lily reached out hesitantly and placed her hand on Ronon's shoulder causing him to turning around to acknowledge the gesture. A look of confusion passed across his face as he noticed the steely determination in Lily's eyes. Lily didn't hesitate, she thrust her fist forward striking Ronon in the face, undoubtedly breaking his nose.

The large man stumbled back in shock from the force of the blow. He had never know this woman to be capable of such a thing. It dawned on him that something was amiss and quickly allowed himself to be convinced that the woman in front of him was not who he thought it was. She was the enemy. He growled and moved forward in an attempt to subdue Lily. She was prepared and his hands missed their mark as she dodged swiftly to the side. Ronon turned quickly to launch another attack but Lily was ready, she grabbed his right arm and used his momentum to slam him forward into the wall.

Lily paused for a moment as she took in Ronon's unconscious form slumped on the ground. She hadn't intended for the move to knock him out but, needless to say, at this point she would take any opportunity she could to keep him from tying her back up. She leaned down to check Ronon's pulse before swiping his gun away from his hip. She searched his body for a moment before realizing that neither of their radios were on his person. She didn't exactly know where they were, so finding her way out of the facility would be difficult. She also had no way of securing Ronon or bringing him with her.

Deciding that the best option would be to lock him in the room they were currently in, Lily began her work with the control panel outside of the door. After a bit of guess work she managed to get the doors to close securely, without opening from the outside. She felt bad for leaving Ronon unconscious in the room without his gun, but she knew she had to find the others and get help. Lily set off down the confusing and dark corridors, no radio or data pad, and only Ronon's satedan gun for protection.

"Anything?" Sheppard asked Rodney impatiently as they stood outside of the sealed room that Ronon and Lily were presumably in.

"No, someone has butchered this control panel and it's going to be impossible to open it, though I highly doubt that they're in there seeing as it's completely silent," Mckay replied.

"What if Ronon locked her inside and shot the control panel?" John mused.

"She'd eventually wake up and find a way to open the doors, Lily is nothing if not resourceful," Rodney said as he continued checking the data he had collected from the door panel.

"So we leave a radio in case she does wake up and get out, and we keep searching," Sheppard decided.

"Or I could stay here and get the door open," Mckay told him.

"Lorne for Sheppard, the gate just activated, we got wraith darts incoming," came the Major's panicked voice through the radio.

"How many?" John inquired.

"Three darts sir, they came through and headed straight for your position," he reported back.

"Okay, cloak our jumper and lock it up, take yours back to Atlantis and get Teyla fixed. Inform Weir of the situation, get some marines with the ATA gene, and come back with the jumper," Sheppard ordered.

"What about Ronon and Lily, sir?" Lorne asked.

"Haven't found em' yet, but when we do, we're busting out of here," John told him.

"Affirmative, sir, good luck," Lorne told him.

"Now, what?" Rodney asked.

"Now we get that door open and figure out what's inside," Sheppard told him.

* * *

Wraith Base, Corridors

Lily had been running through the maze of hallways for nearly thirty minutes now. She had no idea where she was or even how to get back to her previous location. She was starting to get angry with herself for leaving Ronon alone when she had no control over the situation. She could only hope that she would run into Sheppard or McKay soon. She was getting tired, and she was beginning to worry about Ronon more than before.

Just as Lily was about to turn around and attempt to head back the way she came, she heard muffled voices somewhere in the distance. Her eyes lightened as she ran towards the section that the voices were coming from. As she rounded the corner she was stopped by a large figure. It immediately grabbed her and yanked her around to face the others in the hallway. Wraith. There were three wraith standing in front of her, two guards and one male.

"Hello human, what are you doing at our facility?" the male Wraith asked with a vicious smirk.

"I'm the maid, just popping in to clean up," Lily replied with a nervous smile.

"You are lying. There are others here. There are those with Ancient technology here," he said, moving to forward and grabbing her chin as she struggled against the hold of the two Wraith guards.

"Dunno what you're talking about," Lily said, narrowing her eyes at the creature.

"You will tell me all that you know, or you will suffer," he told her, letting his sharp nail trail down her cheek, leaving a gash behind that oozed blood.

"I would say fuck you, but you don't really understand that do you? So how about this…" Lily trailed off as she shoved the two hulking monsters off of her and shot them both with Ronon's gun.

The male Wraith immediately sprung into action, two blades sliding out of his sleeves before he spun, kicking the Satedan blaster out of Lily's hand. Lily took up her own fighting stance, no knives to be found thanks to Ronon. The two stared at each other for a moment before Lily lunged at the Wraith. He easily spun out of the way and sliced her shoulder with a blade. Lily didn't cry out from the pain, she only steeled her resolve as she waited for the Wraith to lunge this time. He did, and Lily took the opportunity to dodge his attack and grab his shirt at the waist, twisting him around to face the wall.

Lily's daring move had killed the Wraith, causing him to plunge his own sword through his heart, but she had not taken the other sword into account. The second sword had gone through her upper right arm and was now protruding front and back. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to decide if she should remove the sword or not. She sank to the ground, reaching out to recover Ronon's blaster as she leaned against the wall with her good shoulder. She knew that she couldn't make it out of the base with the sword in her shoulder, but she also knew that removing it would cause her to bleed out.

"Guess I'll just think on it," she said out loud, before slumping to the side and passing out.

* * *

Wraith Base, Center Control Room

"Alright, I've got it, opening now," Rodney said as he pressed a few buttons on his tablet causing the door to open.

"Ronon!" John shouted, noticing his friend slumped over on the floor.

"John?" Ronon asked in confusion as he sat up, gripping his head.

"Hey buddy, you feelin like yourself again yet?" John asked him.

"What do you mean?" Ronon asked, moving to stand.

"You and Teyla were exposed to an unknown contagion and you both went nuts, it's because you don't have the ancient gene," Rodney explained.

"Is Teyla alright?" Ronon asked.

"Yeah, we sent her home with Beckett and Lorne," Sheppard replied.

"The marines…" Ronon trailed off motioning towards the dead soldiers.

"They didn't have the gene either, they killed each other, kind of curious seeing as how you and Teyla both made a run for it. I suppose you just have better instincts than them though," Rodney rambled as he inspected the console in the room.

"Lily," Ronon said, realizing that there was someone missing from their conversation.

"We hoped you would know where she was big guy," Sheppard said.

"I brought her here, then she knocked me out," Ronon recalled, his memory still very fuzzy.

"Well isn't that a surprise, Lily can of course defend herself against anything. She's every scientist's wet dream, hot girl, badass, smart," McKay mumbled, causing Ronon to glare at him angrily.

"Rodney, don't you think you should focus on finding her so we can get the hell out of here, there are Wraith waiting to suck the life out of us," Sheppard said.

"Wraith, here?" Ronon asked, becoming alert.

"Yeah, three darts," Sheppard responded.

"You can't find Lily?" the Satedan clarified.

"Listen, I know where you're going with this Ronon, but we can't go running off guns cocked to find her in this maze, we gotta locate her position first, then we can go after her," Sheppard insisted.

"Hurry up," Ronon said McKay, his tone laced with urgency.

"Okay, I've got something, four life signs there," Rodney said pointing at the map.

"Four? That's the only life signs on the base?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes," Rodney replied, gulping nervously.

"Three Wraith, one Lily," Ronon huffed, "Let's go."

Sheppard handed Ronon his handgun and gestured for him to take point. Rodney clutched his tablet as he followed Ronon down the corridors, directing them where to go. Sheppard continually scanned the rooms and halls that they passed as he followed his other two teammates. After about ten minutes Rodney came to a sudden stop.

"We have a problem," he said, "Two life signs just disappeared."

"Disappeared or…?" Sheppard asked.

"Died, they're dead, that's the only logical explanation," Rodney replied.

"Then we need to hurry," Ronon said, turning to run down the corridor as the other two followed him.

"Turn right!" Rodney shouted from behind. "Then second left, and third right and you're there."

"Come on McKay," Colonel Sheppard urged as Ronon ran out of sight.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Rodney snapped at him. "Another life sign gone."

"Let's hope that was Lily killing all the Wraith," Sheppard said.

Ronon had arrived at the scene of the fight. First he saw the two dead Wraith guards with blasts in the chests from his gun. Next he saw the male Wraith standing against the wall with his own sword sticking through his chest where his heart should be. Finally he took notice of Lily's slumped figure, a second sword sticking out through her shoulder. She was clutching tightly to her wound with one hand, while her other hand held his gun, pointed at him.

"Go away," she mumbled sleepily.

"Lily," Ronon breathed out as he moved to squat down next to her.

"You know who I am?" she asked him as she looked into his eyes.

"Lily! Shit, Rodney get Carson on the radio," came Sheppard's voice.

"Is she?" Rodney muttered.

"I'm not dead yet McKay," Lily shouted, causing her to cough up blood.

"We gotta get her back to the jumper," John said to Ronon.

The large Satedan man nodded once before he scooped Lily into his arms. He looked into her eyes which held uncertainty, before he walked after McKay down the hallway. Sheppard followed, his gun still drawn. They arrived at the puddle jumper and Ronon set Lily down on one of the benches, kneeling beside her to help hold her in place. Lily gave him a lopsided smile, blood trickling down the corner of her mouth, before her eyes fluttered shut and she passed out.

* * *

Atlantis, Medbay

Lily slowly began to wake up, her shoulder aching terribly. She opened her eyes and realized that she was safe, laying in a bed in the medbay on Atlantis. She turned her head to the right to look at all of the machines she was hooked up to. Then she turned her head to the left, eyes falling on John Sheppard's sleeping form. She giggled to herself, then began to cough, waking the Colonel immediately.

"Lily, you're awake," he said, relief washing over him, "Carson!"

"I'm fine Sheppard, calm down," Lily said, moving to sit up, only to have Sheppard push her back down into the bed.

"Don't sit up yet, let Carson look you over," John insisted.

"Good evening Love, how are ya feelin' right now?" Beckett asked as he appeared.

"I feel fine, just a little tense in my shoulder," she told him smiling.

"Thas' wonderful news, lass, you should be good to go in no time," he said, returning her smile.

"So I can leave?" she asked hopefully.

"Give it a wee bit more time and then you can return to your quarters, but you'll be on light duty for a while," Carson told her.

"Lovely. Thank you though Carson, I'm sure you're the one who patched me up," Lily said gratefully.

"It was nothing, at least now that you're awake my medbay can finally get some peace and quiet," Carson complained.

"We were only trying to make sure someone was here when she woke up," Sheppard defended.

"Whose we?" Lily asked him.

"The team of course, Ronon especially though, had to force him to leave a few hours ago just so he would shower," John told her grinning.

"Ronon was here?"

"Yeah, he barely left your side since we brought you back here," John said.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"About 38 hours, not too bad considering you had a Wraith sword laced with poison sticking out of you," Sheppard joked.

"It was laced with poison?" Lily gasped. "Damn Carson, you must be an even better doctor than I thought."

"Well, I do my best lass, now behave while I go check on my other patients. No getting up, and take it easy," he instructed her.

"Yessir!" she said, giving him a mock salute, watching him smile at her before he left her room.

"How are you really feeling?" John asked her.

"Like hell, that sword really had poison on it?" Lily asked him.

"Yeah, you're pretty tough you know that?" Sheppard remarked.

Lily smiled at him, glad that Sheppard had been the one she had woken up to. He knew how to lighten the tense mood of any situation. He made the bad seem not so bad all the time. Lily was also worried about seeing Ronon again. They had shared some heated moments with each other on the Wraith base, and she wasn't sure how much of it he would remember, or how much of it was real. She knew she would have to ask him about his past, and who the woman was that he referred to her as.

After a while Teyla, Rodney, and Elizabeth came to visit Lily and check up on her. Once the sun began to set Carson ushered everyone away, saying that since Lily was awake she could sleep on her own. Lily didn't sleep at all. She laid awake wondering why Ronon hadn't come to see her, surely he knew she was awake by now, Was he angry with her? She decided that she didn't care. She wanted to get better, and get back to her own private room and away from anything remotely medical.

Three days passed and finally Carson released her from his care. Lily was ecstatic, even though she had been put on light duty for another two weeks. Sheppard and Teyla helped her to her room before leaving her alone to her thoughts. She had told them that she would meet them later for lunch. Truthfully, she felt like sleeping for an entire day. While she was in the medbay she hadn't been able to sleep at all. She was paranoid and fearful of the lonely makeshift hospital. As soon as Teyla and John left her room, she fell onto the bed with a satisfied sigh.

Her relief was cut short as a chime sounded, alerting her that someone was outside her door. She huffed in frustration before slowly lifting herself off the bed. Her shoulder creaked in protest but she stretched it for a moment before swiping her hand over the control panel to open her door. She was met with the emotionless face of Ronon Dex. He stood towering over her in her doorway, his face a complete mask of indifference.

"Ronon," Lily said, her tone filled with surprise, "What're you doing here?"

"Wanted to check on you," he told her, pushing his way past her into her room.

"You could have done that any of the last three days while I was in medical," she said, closing the door and turning around to face him.

"Wanted to be alone," he told her, his eyes burning with an untraceable emotion.

"Alone?" Lily asked, confused.

"So I could do this," Ronon declared, moving forward to grab Lily's face in his large hands and plant his lips against hers.

Ronon kissed Lily with everything that he had. The kiss was passionate and slow, he was taking his time devouring her mouth so that she would understand how much he cared for her. He sucked in her bottom lip and ran his tongue across it, causing her to moan. Ronon plunged his tongue further into her mouth as his hands began to stroke her face and neck. Lily pulled away, gasping for air as a single tear slid down her cheek.

"Did I hurt you?" Ronon asked, wiping the tear away.

"Ronon, who's Melena?"


End file.
